IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/ejlwec/v49y2020i2d10.1007_s10657-020-09646-6.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The heat: temperature, police behavior and the enforcement of law

Author

Listed:
  • Matt E. Ryan

    (Duquesne University)

Abstract

Despite ample investigation into the influence of ambient temperature on behavior, and especially on criminal activity, little research exists on the impact of temperature on police behavior. As such, this analysis tests the “heat hypothesis” over 5 years of traffic stops by the City of Pittsburgh Police Department. Across a range of specifications, police officers are more likely to issue traffic citations when temperatures are warmer—holding constant driving behavior—and the magnitude of the increase is comparable to citation rate discrepancies between black and white drivers.

Suggested Citation

  • Matt E. Ryan, 2020. "The heat: temperature, police behavior and the enforcement of law," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 49(2), pages 187-203, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:ejlwec:v:49:y:2020:i:2:d:10.1007_s10657-020-09646-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s10657-020-09646-6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10657-020-09646-6
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10657-020-09646-6?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Miller, Kirk, 2009. "Race, driving, and police organization: Modeling moving and nonmoving traffic stops with citizen self-reports of driving practices," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 37(6), pages 564-575, November.
    2. Ritter, Joseph A., 2013. "Racial Bias in Traffic Stops: Tests of a Unified Model of Stops and Searches," Miscellaneous Publications 152496, University of Minnesota, Department of Applied Economics.
    3. Roland G. Fryer, Jr, 2016. "An Empirical Analysis of Racial Differences in Police Use of Force," NBER Working Papers 22399, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. John Hagelin & Maxwell Rainforth & Kenneth Cavanaugh & Charles Alexander & Susan Shatkin & John Davies & Anne Hughes & Emanuel Ross & David Orme-Johnson, 1999. "Effects of Group Practice of the Transcendental Meditation Program on Preventing Violent Crime in Washington, D.C.: Results of the National Demonstration Project, June--July 1993," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 47(2), pages 153-201, June.
    5. Murat Iyigun & Nathan Nunn & Nancy Qian, 2017. "Winter is Coming: The Long-Run Effects of Climate Change on Conflict, 1400-1900," NBER Working Papers 23033, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Anbarci, Nejat & Lee, Jungmin, 2014. "Detecting racial bias in speed discounting: Evidence from speeding tickets in Boston," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 11-24.
    7. Grogger, Jeffrey & Ridgeway, Greg, 2006. "Testing for Racial Profiling in Traffic Stops From Behind a Veil of Darkness," Journal of the American Statistical Association, American Statistical Association, vol. 101, pages 878-887, September.
    8. Levy, Ori & Galili, Itai, 2008. "Stock purchase and the weather: Individual differences," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 67(3-4), pages 755-767, September.
    9. Michael D. Makowsky & Thomas Stratmann, 2009. "Political Economy at Any Speed: What Determines Traffic Citations?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(1), pages 509-527, March.
    10. Moon, Byongook & Corley, Charles J., 2007. "Driving across campus: Assessing the impact of drivers' race and gender on police traffic enforcement actions," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 29-37.
    11. Thomas A. Garrett & Gary A. Wagner, 2009. "Red Ink in the Rearview Mirror: Local Fiscal Conditions and the Issuance of Traffic Tickets," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 52(1), pages 71-90, February.
    12. Matt Ryan, 2016. "Frisky business: race, gender and police activity during traffic stops," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 41(1), pages 65-83, February.
    13. William C. Horrace & Shawn M. Rohlin, 2016. "How Dark Is Dark? Bright Lights, Big City, Racial Profiling," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 98(2), pages 226-232, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Vladimir Otrachshenko & Olga Popova & José Tavares, 2021. "Extreme Temperature And Extreme Violence: Evidence From Russia," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 59(1), pages 243-262, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Makofske, Matthew, 2020. "Pretextual Traffic Stops and Racial Disparities in their Use," MPRA Paper 100792, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Ingrid Gould Ellen & Stephen L. Ross, 2018. "Race and the City," Working Papers 2018-022, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    3. Felipe Goncalves & Steven Mello, 2021. "A Few Bad Apples? Racial Bias in Policing," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 111(5), pages 1406-1441, May.
    4. Jesse Kalinowski & Matthew B. Ross & Stephen L. Ross, 2017. "Endogenous Driving Behavior in Tests of Racial Profiling in Police Traffic Stops," Working papers 2017-03, University of Connecticut, Department of Economics, revised Mar 2020.
    5. Shawn Kantor & Carl T. Kitchens & Steven Pawlowski, 2021. "Civil Asset Forfeiture, Crime, And Police Incentives: Evidence From The Comprehensive Crime Control Act Of 1984," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 59(1), pages 217-242, January.
    6. Sarah Marx Quintanar, 2017. "Man vs. machine: An investigation of speeding ticket disparities based on gender and race," Journal of Applied Economics, Universidad del CEMA, vol. 20, pages 1-28, May.
    7. Siân Mughan & Joanna Carroll, 2021. "Escaping the long arm of the law? Racial disparities in the effect of drivers' license suspensions on offense probabilities," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 87(4), pages 1366-1389, April.
    8. Kevin Lang & Ariella Kahn-Lang Spitzer, 2020. "Race Discrimination: An Economic Perspective," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 34(2), pages 68-89, Spring.
    9. Yahagi, Ken, 2021. "Law enforcement with motivated agents," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    10. Florian Baumann & Sophie Bienenstock & Tim Friehe & Maiva Ropaul, 2023. "Fines as enforcers’ rewards or as a transfer to society at large? Evidence on deterrence and enforcement implications," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 196(3), pages 229-255, September.
    11. Pauline Grosjean & Federico Masera & Hasin Yousaf, 2023. "Inflammatory Political Campaigns and Racial Bias in Policing," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 138(1), pages 413-463.
    12. Lieberman, Carl, 2024. "Variation in racial disparities in police use of force," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    13. Michael D. Makowsky & Thomas Stratmann, 2011. "More Tickets, Fewer Accidents: How Cash-Strapped Towns Make for Safer Roads," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 54(4), pages 863-888.
    14. Shi, Ying & Zhu, Maria, 2022. "Equal time for equal crime? Racial bias in school discipline," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    15. Roach Michael, 2015. "Is the Highway Patrol Really Tougher on Out-of-State Drivers? An Empirical Analysis," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 15(2), pages 769-796, April.
    16. Jesse J. Kalinowski & Matthew B. Ross & Stephen L. Ross, 2019. "Now You See Me, Now You Don't: The Geography of Police Stops," AEA Papers and Proceedings, American Economic Association, vol. 109, pages 143-147, May.
    17. Jesse Kalinowski & Matthew B. Ross & Stephen L. Ross, 2019. "Addressing Seasonality in Veil of Darkness Tests for Discrimination: An Instrumental Variables Approach," Working papers 2019-07, University of Connecticut, Department of Economics.
    18. Gregory DeAngelo & R. Kaj Gittings & Amanda Ross & Annie Walker, 2016. "Police Bias in the Enforcement of Drug Crimes: Evidence from Low Priority Laws," Working Papers 16-01, Department of Economics, West Virginia University.
    19. Abrahams, Scott, 2020. "Officer differences in traffic stops of minority drivers," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    20. Mark Hoekstra & CarlyWill Sloan, 2022. "Does Race Matter for Police Use of Force? Evidence from 911 Calls," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 112(3), pages 827-860, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Heat hypothesis; Traffic stops; Enforcement of law;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:ejlwec:v:49:y:2020:i:2:d:10.1007_s10657-020-09646-6. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.