Cops Talk Less Respectfully to Black People Than White at Traffic Stops, According to Science

Cops are more friendly to white drivers than Black during traffic stops—and now, science proves it.

In a study published earlier this week in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology: Attitudes and Social Cognition, a group of researchers and professors analyzed the audio from traffic stops to understand if cops treat Black and white men differently during these encounters.

The big reveal: Cops talk differently and more negatively to Black drivers than white ones during traffic stops, aggravating tension between law enforcement and minority communities.

The study, conducted by researchers from elite universities, had test subjects listen to audio recordings from a medium-sized U.S. city’s police department body-camera audio. The sample included a pool of 100 clips where a Black person was stopped and 100 clips where a white person was stopped. They then used a new pool of 200 for a second study to ensure the results were robust.