DOI: 10.3886/icpsr04340.v1
title: Assessing Police Officers' Decision Making and Discretion in Making Traffic Stops in Savannah, Georgia, 2002
title: Version 1

description: This study aimed to fill a void in the research regarding
 police behavior by focusing on the formation and creation of cognitive
 suspicion by officers. The study also examined formal actions (stops)
 taken by the police pursuant to that suspicion. The study was
 conducted using observational research methods and collected
 quantitative and qualitative data on officer suspicion. Data were
 collected by observers who rode along with patrol officers from April
 2002 to November 2002. Field observers used three major data
 collection instruments in order to gather as much relevant information
 as possible from a variety of sources and in diverse situations. The
 Officer Form was an overall evaluation of the officer's
 decision-making characteristics, Suspicion Forms captured information
 each time an incident occurred, and a Suspect Form was a compilation
 of data from the citizen who had the encounter with the
 officer. Additional documents included informed consent forms, a card
 detailing the language to be used for the initial contact with
 citizens, and hourly activity forms. Anytime a suspicion was formed or
 a formal action was taken after a suspicion was formed, the observer
 debriefed the officer as to his or her thoughts and elicited the
 officer's overall rating of the encounter. Data in this collection
 include general demographic characteristics of the officer and the
 suspect, as well as the area in which the suspicion was formed. Data
 was also gathered regarding what led the officer to form a suspicion,
and why a person was or was not stopped.
description: There has been an effort by the research
 community to examine issues concerning how police act and respond in
 general and what police do specifically when they interact with
 citizens. This study aims to fill a void in the research regarding
 police behavior by focusing on the formation and creation of cognitive
 suspicion by officers. The study also examined formal actions (stops)
 taken by the police pursuant to that suspicion. Suspicion was defined
 as anytime an officer became doubting, distrustful, or otherwise
troubled or concerned about an individual.
description: The current study was conducted using
 observational research methods, and it collected qualitative and
 quantitative data. Observers were 12 criminal justice majors and
 graduate students at Armstrong Atlantic State University. The
 observers, the Patrol Bureau Commander, four police precinct captains,
 and approximately 15 police officers attended a one-day training
 facilitated by three of the five principal investigators. The training
 covered the goals and objectives of the project and the specific
 purposes of the ride-along observations. Specific ways to conduct
 observations were covered, and students were instructed specifically
 on the accepted behavior of an observer during low-risk to high-risk
 activities. Field observers used three major data collection
 instruments in order to gather as much relevant information as
 possible from a variety of sources and in diverse situations. The
 Officer Form was an overall evaluation of the officer's
 decision-making characteristics, Suspicion Forms captured information
 each time an incident occurred, and a Suspect Form was a compilation
 of data from the citizen who had the encounter with the
 officer. Additional documents included informed consent forms, a card
 detailing the language to be used for the initial contact with
 citizens, and hourly activity forms. Beginning in April 2002 and
 continuing through November 2002, field observers accompanied officers
 in each of the four precincts and on all three shifts. Overall, 49
 officers on 132 tours were observed forming 174 suspicions and making
 103 stops. The student observer was introduced to the selected officer
 and asked the officer to read and then sign the informed consent
 form. The observers were told that they could utilize the first full
 ride for building rapport. By design, observers were told by research
 staff to arrange three ride-along tours with the same officer. If the
 observer felt that he or she were familiar with the officers
 decision-making style and working rules after one or more complete
 ride-along, the observer could discuss with the on-site coordinator
 whether he or she should ride with another officer. Decisions to move
 from one officer to another were made by the on-site
 coordinator. Observers attended every roll call for their shifts and
 rode with officers through the entire eight-hour work shift, taking
 notes of officers' activities and documenting each instance where the
 officer formed a suspicion. They were trained not to record any
 activities that were generated by radio calls, other officers, or
 situations in which their officers served as backup. In routine
 activities, observers watched the interactions between the officer and
 suspect(s), documenting what they saw and the sequence of events as
 they unfolded. After an encounter, the observer debriefed the officer
 as to his or her thoughts during encounters and elicited the officer's
 overall rating of the encounter. Observers were trained to make note
 of times when officers seemed to take notice of something but not act
 on it and to question the officer about his or her behavior at an
 opportune time. After completing detailed write-ups of ride alongs,
 observers would submit the forms to the on-site coordinator who would
 then debrief the observer and elicit further explanation, if
necessary.
description: Data collected in this study include demographic
 information about the officer such as age, race, sex, and educational
 attainment. Demographic information is also included regarding the
 race, sex, and perceived class of the suspect. Data are also included
 on the differences in the above variables. Additionally, variables are
 included regarding the shift in which the officer was observed, what
 lead to the officer forming a suspicion, what lead to the officer
 choosing to make a stop or not, and the make, model, year, and color
 of any vehicle involved in the stop. Information regarding the
demographics of the area in which the stop occurred is also included.
description: none
description: Response Rates: Not applicable
description: Presence of Common Scales: A Likert-type scale was used.
description: The sample consisted of 49 patrol officers, totaling 132
 tours, on all three shifts in each of the Savannah Police Department's
 four precincts, who agreed to allow student researchers to ride along
 with them during their shifts. The captain or lieutenant on duty would
 randomly assign students to an officer. The captain or lieutenant was
 asked, for example, to select the fifth officer on the duty roster. If
 that officer was not assigned to patrol that shift, or was absent,
 then the name of the officer above and then below on the roster was
selected.
description: Datasets: 
DS1: Assessing Police Officers' Decision Making and Discretion in Making Traffic Stops in Savannah, Georgia, 2002
description: Patrol officers employed by the Savannah Police Department
from April 2002 through November 2002. Smallest Geographic Unit: precinct
description: coded on-site observationAn attempt was made to collect data from the
 individuals who the officers stopped. Due to the fact that the
 methodology used produced low response rates, the survey was
unsuccessful, and data from it are not included in this collection.