Developed in 2006, the veil of darkness approach is one of the most widely accepted methods for assessing the impact of driver race on traffic stops. Building on the original methodology, we innovate in three important ways to enhance the veil of darkness approach: (a) invoke generalized linear mixed models to account for the lack of independence among observations in traffic stop data sets, (b) decompose the relationship between daylight and driver race to consider the role of driver sex, and (c) assess variability in racial disproportionality across law enforcement units. Nearly 20,000 traffic stops are analyzed for the Durham (NC) Police Department. Results indicate that more than 10% of the variability in the rate of Black drivers stopped is accounted for by officer-level factors, racial disproportionality was only for male drivers, and evidence of disproportionality was found among some units, but no evidence was found among others.

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Tip lines are a promising strategy for promoting school safety by creating a structured system where students, staff, parents, and community members can anonymously report safety concerns. To date, little is known about the characteristics of tips, how tips are reported, and what implications for practice can be developed from studying tip line data. We analyzed 228 tips collected over the course of 43 months by the SafeOregon tip line in which one or more persons were reported for signaling intentions or desires to commit an act of mass violence at a school (i.e., "leakage"). Tips were coded and analyzed to generate critical knowledge about the leakage, the person(s) being reported, how the tip was reported, and how the school responded. Given the urgency of timely reporting, we also investigated the odds of same day reporting by several tip and school characteristics. Results show that most tips described direct threats to shoot up the school by a known male student, usually made at school. Notable patterns can be observed by disaggregating tips according to time of day, day of the week, and month, although more research is needed to understand temporal fluctuations. When a specific date for violence was mentioned in the leakage, the reporter was significantly more likely to engage in same day reporting and the police were more likely to be called. Results highlight the importance of training students on how to use tip lines effectively, including describing leakage events clearly and with as much detail as possible. Public Significance StatementTaken together, these findings are insightful for understanding the use of tip lines for reporting serious safety concerns, information that school administrators and tip line operators can utilize to allocate resources and ultimately to better protect schools from threats of violence.

Drawing from Sampson and Laub's age-graded theory, we examine whether the presence and quality of social bonds influences nonmedical usage of prescription drugs (opioids, tranquilizers, sedatives, and stimulants). We analyze data from a large and nationally representative sample of adults from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). Results from a series of logistic regression models indicate that married individuals are significantly less likely to use prescription drugs nonmedically than non-married persons. However, romantic relational satisfaction is also salient; cohabiters who are highly satisfied with their romantic unions are less likely to report misuse than cohabiters who are less satisfied in their relationships. Additionally, being highly satisfied at work predicts a lower likelihood of misuse, but only among cohabiters. Overall, age-graded theory is useful for understanding nonmedical prescription drug use, although romantic relationship bonds are generally more consistently influential than employment bonds. These results add to a growing knowledge base regarding patterns of nonmedical prescription drug use.