The Effect of Neighborhood Characteristics on Traffic Citation Practices of the Police

Abstract

Prior research on traffic citation practices has focused largely on the influence of situational factors on officer behavior. Recent research, however, has called for a more contextualized framework for studying traffic enforcement activities. Using multilevel and spatial modeling procedures, the current study examined the role that both immediate and surrounding neighborhood characteristics played on citation issuance within a large, metropolitan department. Findings indicated that neighborhood structural characteristics were significantly related to the number of citations written during traffic encounters, independent of situational factors. Furthermore, the effect of a neighborhood's racial composition on citation issuance extended beyond the immediate neighborhood. The results lend further support to the larger body of research highlighting the importance of neighborhood context on officer behavior.