Which policy reforms have demonstrably reduced racial disparities in stops, searches, and arrests in U.S. jurisdictions?

1. Limits on pretextual and non‑safety traffic stops — the clearest tactical win

City and state experiments that curtailed stops for minor or “non‑moving” violations and explicitly limited pretext stops show the most direct, locally documented reductions in racially disparate stops: traffic enforcement has been singled out as a key driver of racial disparities and jurisdictions that reclassified or removed non‑safety stops from police responsibility saw drops in unequal contact rates ^{[4] [2]}, while statewide and municipal policy changes aimed at limiting pretext stops are cited as reducing racially disparate stops without compromising public safety in multiple analyses ^[2].

2. Reducing the scale of policing — decriminalization and “right‑sizing” contact

Reforms that reduce overall police contact — decriminalizing low‑level offenses, diverting responses for non‑public‑safety traffic incidents to administrative or civil remedies, and investing in community‑based alternatives — have demonstrable effects on absolute disparities because fewer stops and arrests naturally lower the numerical gap between racial groups; the Sentencing Project and National Academies work highlight these “right‑sizing” approaches as evidence‑based ways to cut absolute racial disparities ^{[5] [6] [7]}.

3. Court and sentencing reforms that shrink downstream disparities

Judicial interventions and changes to sentencing policy — including sentencing reform for drug offenses, de‑felonization, bail reform, and reducing the intensity/duration of probation and parole — have reduced overall levels of criminal justice contact and, in turn, the absolute racial differentials in arrests, bookings, and incarceration documented in multiyear reviews ^{[3] [7] [1]}; these measures often change the baseline population that police encounter, producing measurable declines in racialized outcomes even when policing practices themselves remain imperfect.

4. Federal oversight, consent decrees, and institutional reform

Department of Justice investigations and court‑enforced consent decrees have produced systemic policy changes — limits on use of force, mandated bias reviews, and transparency requirements — that, in numerous cases, forced departments to address racial disparities and altered stop/search practices in ways that independent observers and reform advocates credit with reductions in discriminatory policing ^[8]; the Brennan Center and others argue federal oversight remains a powerful lever where local reform stalls ^{[8] [9]}.

5. Training, data collection, and accountability — necessary but insufficient

Bias training, de‑escalation curricula, inclusive task forces, clearer metrics and better data collection are widely recommended and have supported reform successes where paired with concrete policy limits, but alone they produce mixed results; advocates such as the Brennan Center emphasize inclusive task forces and measurable goals as enablers of change, while scholars warn that symbolic measures without enforcement rarely translate into sustained reductions ^{[9] [10]}.

6. What the evidence does not show and where reforms fall short

Large reviews stress that many reforms reduce absolute racial disparities while leaving relative disparities intact — meaning fewer overall stops can lower the raw numbers without eliminating a disproportionate risk for Black, Latino, or Indigenous people — and that single, point‑in‑time reforms rarely erase entrenched patterns that are rooted in broader social inequality ^{[3] [7]}; critics also note that some high‑profile reforms have been largely symbolic ^[10], and political retrenchment or changes in prosecutorial or police leadership can reverse prior gains ^[11].

Conclusion — a toolbox, not a silver bullet

The empirical record across PPIC, National Academies, Brennan Center, Sentencing Project, and federal reviews indicates a convergent set of policies — curtailing pretextual traffic enforcement, reducing low‑level criminalization, sentencing and bail reforms, coupled with enforceable oversight and good data — that demonstrably lower absolute racial disparities in stops, searches, and arrests in jurisdictions that implement them comprehensively; nonetheless, persistent relative disparities and political resistance mean these policy levers must be applied in combination and sustained over time to deliver durable equity ^{[1] [2] [3] [8] [5]}.