"The first 45 words, which is less than 30 seconds on average, spoken by a law enforcement officer during a car stop to a Black driver can be quite telling about how the stop will end," says Eugenia Rho, a researcher at Virginia Tech.Īmid the recent high-profile killing of Tyre Nichols and other Black motorists after traffic stops, the findings offer a grim sketch of how police stops can escalate and how Black men recognize the warning signs.
That kind of outcome was less likely when a police officer's first words provided a reason for the stop. That's according to a new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that examined police body-camera footage of 577 routine car stops involving Black drivers.Įighty-one of these stops ultimately involved searches, handcuffings, or arrests. When a police officer stops a Black driver, the first 45 words said by that officer hold important clues about how their encounter is likely to go.Ĭar stops that result in a search, handcuffing, or arrest are nearly three times more likely to begin with the police officer issuing a command, such as "Keep your hands on the wheel" or "Turn the car off." Scientists are studying police camera footage to understand why some car stops of Black men escalate and others don't.
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