Gender Bias in Policing

Abstract

The rise in tension between law enforcement and the communities they serve and gender discrimination in general, brings importance to the study of statistical evidence of the presence of gender discrimination in different settings. Using detailed data on motor vehicle accidents between 2006 – 2012, we use as good-as-random variation in gender matches between officers and drivers to estimate the degree of gender bias. We do not find evidence of statistically significant levels of discrimination based on gender. The findings in this paper have important implications for both policies that shape the composition of police forces and police training programs.