RACIAL PROFILING
COCONINO COUNTY VIOLATOR STUDY REPORT
STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF I-17 VIOLATOR STUDY
STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF I-40 STOP DATA

      Mr. Lee Phillips, Attorney at Law, commissioned Northern Arizona University’s Social Research Laboratory (SRL) to conduct a survey of vehicles committing traffic violations on Interstate 40 within the boundaries of Coconino County. The SRL conducted this research project, known as the “I-40 Violator Survey.” In brief, this research project involved sending a team of trained observers onto Interstate 40 in Coconino County during 28 randomly selected time periods within a two-week period. Observations took place between April 13 and April 26, 2002, from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm. A team of three trained observers drove an observation vehicle at the posted speed limit on I-40 within Coconino County between mileposts 161 and 211. Observation teams recorded the race and ethnicity of 1) drivers identified as violating a motor vehicle law; and, 2) drivers observed to not be violating motor vehicle laws. Quality control support for the data collection process was assisted by Mr. Shapard Wolf, Director of Arizona State University’s Survey Research Laboratory. Mr. Wolf rode with several observation shifts to verify the data collection process. The data was accumulated at the end of the observation period, keypunched into a database and analyzed. The Survey Research Laboratory at Arizona State University, under the direction of Mr. Shapard Wolf, double-keypunched 100 percent of the records. This was performed as an accuracy check on the data entry process. No systematic errors were found in the coding process. This report contains the findings from this study. The Social Research Laboratory of Northern Arizona University fielded this research, with assistance from the Survey Research Laboratory of Arizona State University. Dr. Fred Solop served as principal investigator for this project. Kristi Hagen worked with Dr. Solop as the co-principal investigator and Katie Desmond served as project manager for the study. A total of nine trained observers worked on this project: Katie Desmond, Paul Vaughn, Vanessa Irving, Kerry Nodal, Mark Christopher Stringer, Kelly McCarrier, Katharyn Lyon, Dan Foster, and Scott Deasy. Dr. Solop conducted a training session for all project personnel on April 10, 2001. Mr.Lee Phillips participated in a portion of this training session and Mr. Shapard Wolf participated in the entire training session.

     Observation procedures were standardized and recorded. The team leader and project manager reviewed all observation records for accuracy and completeness at the end of each shift. Records were kept in a locked facility and data was entered into a dataset shortly following each shift. Findings discussed in the next section are based on the data collected within this dataset.

     The Social Research Laboratory is a full-service research and teaching facility located within the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Northern Arizona University (NAU). The SRL offers quality research services to public and nonprofit clients while providing graduate and undergraduate students at NAU with applied research instruction and experience. The Social Research Laboratory and Dr. Fred Solop have been accepted as experts in the recent Coconino County Racial Profiling case (State v. Folkes) and the Yavapai County Racial Profiling Case (State v. Burkley). In both cases, Dr. Solop testified at the request of defense counsel as the “people’s witness” during the initial colorable claim hearings. A colorable claim of racial profiling was found to exist in Coconino County and defense was entitled access to records from one year of all stops on Interstate 40 in Coconino County. The Social Research Laboratory was hired by the Coconino County Attorneys Office and the Coconino County Public Defenders Office to code approximately 17,000 stop documents into the format of a statistical dataset. The final report from this project was issued in December 2001. (see Coconino County Consolidated Racial Profiling Court Case: I-40 Record Review, December 2001)

     Judges van Wyck and Adams of the Coconino County Superior Court ordered in May 2001 that experts from the state and defense work together to outline methodologies for conducting a Violator Study and an Observation Study for I-40 within the Coconino County boundaries. The results of this collaborative work are contained within two research proposals submitted to state and defense in September 2001. The methodology used in the Coconino County Violator Study replicates the methodology developed by the four experts: Dr. Fred Solop from Northern Arizona University, Dr. John Lamberth of Temple University, Dr. Jeffrey Wilson of Arizona State University, and Mr. Shappard Wolf of Arizona State University.

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