The Correlation Between Educational Attainment and Police Stops: A Logit Model Analysis

Ziqi Lai

doi:10.54097/p0ypqh04

Authors

Ziqi Lai

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54097/p0ypqh04

Keywords:

education, police stops, logistic regression.

Abstract

While prior studies on police stops have emphasized visible social characteristics, less attention has been given to the role of educational attainment. This study examines the influence of education on the probability of being stopped by police, using 4,488 individual data in 1989 of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. This study employs a logit regression model to assess the probability of police contact, with education as the primary explanatory variable and other demographic characteristics included as controls. The analysis included marginal effects to interpret the impact of each variable, as well as subgroup comparisons by urban status and gender. Further, education was divided into four categories to explore its influence. The results reveal a statistically significant negative association between education and police stops. Specifically, an increase of one year in educational attainment reduces the predicted probability of being stopped by approximately 1.63%. Subgroup analysis confirms that individuals with lower educational attainment, particularly those without a high school diploma, are substantially more likely to report being stopped by police. These results highlight a significant and consistent negative association between education and the likelihood of police stops, suggesting that higher educational attainment may offer protective effects in interactions with law enforcement.

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References

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