Not So Black and White: Uncovering Racial Bias from Systematically Misreported Trooper Reports

Abstract

Biased highway troopers may intentionally misreport the race of the stopped motorists in order to evade detection. I develop a new model of traffic stops that highlights the incentive for biased troopers to misreport their failed minority searches as White. Applying my model to the universe of highway searches in Texas from 2010–2015, I find evidence of widespread bias that varies substantially across troopers. When misreporting became more difficult due to public scrutiny, biased troopers faced worse labor outcomes. This suggest an important role for increased
accountability in data collection by law enforcement agents.

Keywords: Discrimination, Cheating, Racial Bias, Troopers, Highway Patrol, Social Norms, Institutions

JEL Classification: J71, K42