Replication Data for: Driving While Different: Examining Traffic Stop Outcomes Experienced by Historically Marginalized Communities

Research shows that policies and institutions often maintain and reinforce social hierarchies, such as with law enforcement in the United States, keeping those belonging to historically dominant groups in favored positions, while pushing out those in historically marginalized communities. While this dynamic has oft been examined with respect to race, historically marginalized communities are more varied than solely a Black:White comparison. Using a unique data set of traffic stops made by large municipal police departments in California, I quantitatively examine whether and when disparities exist in who is searched and subsequently found with contraband during a traffic stop across a broader range of historically marginalized communities. For example, I find disparities in search and contraband hit rates between disabled and able-bodied drivers. A key implication of these results is that collecting information on a limited number of driver characteristics obscures important differences in public-police interactions.