Publication Date: Friday, August 13, 2004
Are police targeting blacks?
Are police targeting blacks?
(August 13, 2004) New report shows African Americans pulled over more often for small infractions
Bill D'Agostino
If a black driver received a ticket in Palo Alto recently, it was due to such infractions as a broken light, an expired registration or a cracked windshield one-quarter of the time.
Yet white and Hispanic drivers were pulled over half as often for similar infractions in the same timeframe, April through June, according to a new city report.
Due to this analysis, police officials are now requiring officers to write detailed information about which traffic law was broken on cards used to record such demographic data.
"We're not making any conclusions yet," Police Chief Lynne Johnson said. "We thought, 'This is something we need to look into.'"
The new order began this week. Findings will be reported to the City Council at a future date.
From April to June, blacks received 100 citations for violating the vehicle code, with 25 of those (25 percent) given for car problems and the remainder for moving violations. Whites were cited 812 times, with 90 (13.3 percent) for car problems. Hispanics were cited 254 times, with 34 (11.1 percent) being for car problems.
Palo Alto's police department has voluntarily monitored the racial and gender breakdown of people contacted by police since July 1, 2000. The ethnicities of those pulled over or investigated are based on the officer's observations, and are not independently verified.
The department uses the statistics to raise awareness internally about the choices officers make while patrolling and dealing with the public, said Capt. Brad Zook, who wrote the report.
"The numbers themselves are one thing," he said. "What we need to do is have the officers look inside, at what they're doing and why they're doing it."
The police department's records have recently been under increased scrutiny, especially following the arrest of two officers in July 2003 for the alleged assault of an unarmed black man. A judge is expected to rule later this month whether the officers will stand trial.
Last year's statistical data showed a trend that raised additional concerns: officers were searching blacks and Hispanics (and their automobiles) to a much greater degree than Asian Americans or whites. That tendency continued during the most recent quarter.
The new report's analysis noted that, from April to June, most police searches (83 percent) were associated with arrests. Another 6 percent of searches followed a car being towed, while 5 percent were of people on probation or parole.
For the report, officials also examined the remaining searches. Many followed up on a phone call complaining about drug activity, robberies or fights in the area.
The police chief said that she felt none of the searches were motivated by the suspect's ethnicity.
In total, the data about the 2,715 contacts between police and the public showed that:
*12 percent of the 323 Asian Americans contacted by police were arrested, while 10 percent were searched;
*14 percent of the 277 marked as "other" were arrested; 11 percent were searched;
*17 percent of the 1,366 whites were arrested; 14 percent were searched;
*26 percent of 421 Hispanics were arrested; 23 percent were searched;
*34 percent of 328 blacks were arrested; 29 percent were searched.
The report was published on the city's Web site, at www.cityofpaloalto.org/cityagenda/publish/cmrs/3648.pdf.
The chief has repeatedly stated a desire to work with the minority community to resolve lingering tensions. For a year, she and other top officials have been meeting with prominent and concerned minorities.
Starting in early September, top police officials will begin doing so with other residents in their homes, the report noted. The get-togethers will be dubbed, "Coffee, Cops and Community."
"I think if people get to know us as individuals and as people, not just their stereotype of cops, and we get to know people and not their stereotypes, that's when you get to break down those barriers," Zook said.
Staff Writer Bill D'Agostino can be e-mailed at bdagostino@paweekly.com
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