Literature Review on Gender Disparity in Receiving Sanctions During Traffic Stops

Literature Review
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Gender disparity in receiving sanctions during traffic stops
           The topic of the study is whether gender impacts the types of sanctions received during a traffic stop. Women account for a significantly small portion of people who have dealt with the criminal justice system. Despite being about half the population, they account for only 23% of arrestees, 18% of criminal respondents, and 7% of those incarcerated (Farrell, 2011, pp. 510). The low representation of women in the criminal judicial system has always been questioned, whether because they are low offenders or because of biases by officers enforcing the law. Thus, analyzing the treatment of women and male motorists during traffic stops helps establish the truth. The following are other research studies done on this topic.
           The extent to which the offender and stop characteristics influence police judgments to enforce traffic laws varies depending on gender. Farrell (2011) investigated characteristics that lead to gender disparity in favor of women during traffic enforcement. The study utilized 149 888 records and documents of traffic enforcement stops made in 37 societies in Rhode Island in 2005. The results established that females were less likely to receive citations or tickets for traffic infractions when dealing with officers from stations with fewer female officers than those with more women officers. Thus, women tend to get away with traffic violations.         
           By employing their stereotypes, the police make quick decisions on sanctioning motorists violating traffic laws with limited information. According to Smith, Makarios, & Alpert’s (2006) study, the police tend to develop insensible mental schemes that make them more apprehensive of some populations than others. Hence, Smith, Makarios, and Alpert (2006) examined the gender role in police suspicions, other contributing factors, and whether suspicion weakened the gender and arrest relationship. They utilized 66 109 citizen contact forms filled in by police officers during random traffic stops in Miami from April to October 2001, which established that the capacity of police suspicion varied between men and women. Women were less likely to incite suspicion or face traffic reprimands when stopped during traffic stops. Conversely, men were more likely to raise suspicion and be stopped despite not committing any moving violation. Thus, low suspicion of female motorists leads to them getting fewer reprimands during traffic stops.
           Liu and Sharma (2019) investigated factors influencing speeding traffic stops that resulted in drivers receiving tickets or warnings in Burlington and Vermont. By utilizing 4,089 speeding traffic stop cases documented by the Burlington Police department from 2012-2017 and evaluating them using a regression model, Liu and Sharma established that the chances of a man driver being ticketed for speeding were 1.262 times that of a woman driver. Additionally, men were 2.132 times more probabl...