Racial bias and DUI enforcement: Comparing conviction rates with frequency of behavior

• Published date: 01 November 2021
• Author: Rose M.C. Kagawa,Christopher D. McCort,Julia Schleimer,Veronica A. Pear,Amanda Charbonneau,Shani A.L. Buggs,Garen J. Wintemute,Hannah S. Laqueur
• Date: 01 November 2021
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12558

DOI: ./- .

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Racial bias and DUI enforcement: Comparing

conviction rates with frequency of behavior

Rose M.C. Kagawa1Christopher D. McCort1

Julia Schleimer1Veron ic a A. Pea r1Amanda Charbonneau2

Shani A.L. Buggs1Garen J. Wintemute1Hannah S. Laqueur1

Department of Emergency Medicine,

University of California, Davis,

Sacramento, California, USA

Behavioral and Policy Sciences, RAND

Corporation, Santa Monica, CA

Correspondence

RoseKagawa, Violence Prevention

ResearchProgram, Department of Emer-

gencyMedicine, University of California,

Davis,Sacramento, CA , USA.

Email:rkagawa@ucdavis.edu

Abstract

Research summary: This study estimates disparities in

driving under the influence (DUI) convictions relative to

the frequency with which racial/ethnic groups engage

in alcohol-impaired driving. We use had-been-drinking

crashes and self-reported alcohol-impaired driving to

approximate alcohol-impaired driving frequency for

racial/ethnic groups in California from  to .DUI

conviction and had-been-drinking crash data are from

a sample of , California men aged – in .

Self-reported alcohol-impaired driving rates are from

male Californians who responded to the Behavioral Risk

Factor Surveillance System. Relative to race/ethnicity-

specific estimated rates of engaging in alcohol-impaired

driving, Latino/Hispanic men had higher rates of DUI

conviction than White men. This suggests racial bias

plays a role in DUI convictions, with White men

experiencing a lower probability of conviction than

Latino/Hispanic men who engage in similar behavior.

Policy implications: These findings suggest actions

aimed at reducing individual and structural biases

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits

use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or

adaptations are made.

©  The Authors. Criminology & Public Policypublished by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Society of Criminology.

Criminology & Public Policy. ;:–. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/capp 645

646 KAGAWA .

could lead to more equitable DUI conviction rates.

Such actions could include limiting discretion at each

level of the criminal justice system, for example, by

providing prescriptive guidance to officers on when

to stop drivers or using local had-been-drinking crash

rates to determine sobriety checkpoint and saturation

patrol locations.

KEYWORDS

alcohol, criminal justice, driving under the influence, race/

ethnicity, racial discrimination, racial disparities | racism

1 INTRODUCTION

Relative to their population size, people of color, and particularly Black/African American and

Latino/Hispanic men, bear a greater burden of arrests, convictions, and incarcerations for crimi-

nal offenses than do people of other races and ethnicities (Abrams et al., ; D’Alessio & Stolzen-

berg, ; Piquero, ). Criminal convictions for driving under the influence (DUI), the focus

of the present study, are no exception.Generally, Black/African American drivers are more often

stopped (and searched) than are White drivers (Pierson et al., ), and Black/African American

and Latino/Hispanic drivers are overrepresented among persons with DUI convictions relative to

their population size (California Department of Motor Vehicles, n.d.). Criminal convictions have

far-reaching and lasting implications. A DUI carries the possibilities of hefty fines, license suspen-

sion, and even jail or prison time with downstream impacts on multiple areas of life such as pub-

lic housing or food assistance, scholarship eligibility, employment opportunities, auto insurance

premiums, and social and professional relationships. At the same time, driving while impaired

by alcohol carries significant public health risks (Jewett et al., ). Preventing alcohol-impaired

driving and doing so in a racially equitable manner are both important goals.

The causes of racial/ethnic differences in arrests and convictions generally, and in DUI arrests

and convictions specifically, continue to be debated (Abrams et al., ; D’Alessio & Stolzen-

berg, ; Piquero, ; Tonry, ). Disproportionate representation in crime data of specific

racial/ethnic groups as compared to their population size could be due to inequitable treatmentby

the criminal justice system, differential rates of the underlying criminal behavior, or both (Fagan

& Davies, ). The focus of this paper is on the criminal justice response to perceived race.

Our objective is to estimate the degree to which differences in race/ethnicity-specific DUI convic-

tion rates reflect inequitable criminal justice system treatment, using had-been-drinking (HBD)

crashes and self-reported alcohol-impaired driving as benchmarks of the underlying offending

behavior (driving while impaired by alcohol).

1.1 Potential mechanisms leading to differential representation in

crime data by race/ethnicity

The racial composition of arrestees is determined by a combination of the distribution by

race/ethnicity of the population engaged in the underlying criminal behavior; policies, and