Pretextual Stop Ban, Policing Behavior, & Public Welfare: Evidence from Los Angeles

Pretextual stops, sometimes called “Terry stops,” are a common policing strategy. This strategy involves stopping a driver for minor infractions, such as a broken taillight, to investigate other suspected criminal activity. On March 1, 2022, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) effectively banned police officers from conducting pretextual stops. Doctoral student in economics Kyutaro Matsuzawa will examine the impact of the LAPD’s ban of pretextual stops on policing behavior and public welfare. He will analyze data from the State of California’s Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory, Los Angeles Open Data, the California Open Data Portal, the Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System, and L.A. Court records for his study.