“Representation matters. Cities with majority-black city councils experience less assertive policing… White and black drivers alike are less likely to be searched after a traffic stop. While these differences affect both whites and blacks, they are more pronounced among black drivers."
“When cities rely more heavily on fines, fees, and forfeitures… racial disparity in searches increases… contraband hit-rates increase sharply for whites as a reliance on fees increases, but not for blacks."
“We can document very clearly the extent and nature of those [law enforcement] racial disparities that do exist. These are substantial, growing, and unjustified by the crime-fighting value of the policies that lead to them."
“Black male drivers are two to three times more likely to experience a search than white males, even when controlling for other predictors of search. … Thus, racial disparities in traffic stop searches cannot be ‘explained away.'"