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Loren S Dent | Veil of Darkness: An Expansion on the Hypothesis in the Context of Racial Profiling

Traffic Stop

The Veil of Darkness (VOD) hypothesis presents an opportunity to test for racial profiling in traffic stops without requiring external estimates. It is a hypothesis that police are
less likely to identify a driver's race before stopping them after dark than during daylight. This study's data comes from the Chicago Police Department’s Investigatory Stops between January 1, 2016, and February 28, 2017. This study seeks to expand on the VOD hypothesis by examining investigatory traffic stops while also considering the vehicle's make and model. The use of a natural experiment based on daylight impacting the likelihood of officers conducting a traffic stop because they can see the race of the driver (according to VOD), and examining investigatory stops will allow the researchers to consider the intent of the officer in the context of racial profiling.


Faculty mentors: Dr. Anthony Vito, Loren Dent

Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology  and Department of Journalism 

Graduate

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