Police officers treat Black motorists with less respect during traffic stops than white ones, new research from Stanford University confirmed. Seemingly subtle differences in language in fact highlight significant racial disparities.
According to the study, titled “Language from police body camera footage shows racial disparities in officer respect,” these results were consistent despite the officers’ race, the reason the motorist was pulled over, where the stop took place and how the stop ended.
Previous surveys have indicated this widespread belief, and video footage of police encounters with Blacks has become more widespread over the last few years. But the Stanford study was unique and telling because it did not rely on witness recollection. Rather, a team from Stanford’s psychology, linguistics and computer science departments analyzed 183 hours’ worth of body camera footage from Oakland, Calif., police officers. The footage showed 981 stops made by 245 different officers in April 2014.
