Houston's black drivers searched far more often than whites
By LORI RODRIGUEZ
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle
Black motorists stopped by the Houston Police Department are 3.5 times more likely to be searched than Anglos, the worst disparity reported by any major Texas city, according to the first statewide compilation of statistics since law enforcement agencies were required to report racial data on traffic stops.
An analysis of the data from 2002, released today, also found that Hispanic drivers stopped by HPD officers are 2.4 times more likely than Anglos to be searched. (Click here to download full report.)
The analysis of statistics from 413 law enforcement agencies was commissioned by the Texas State Conference of NAACP branches, the League of United Latin American Citizens, the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas and the Texas Criminal Justice Reform Coalition.
It found a similar pattern of discriminatory treatment by traffic police statewide.
About six of every seven law enforcement agencies in Texas are searching black and Latino motorists following a traffic stop at higher rates than Anglos. Three-quarters of the agencies are stopping minorities at significantly higher rates, the report released Tuesday indicated.
Overall, blacks are 1.6 times more likely to be searched after a being stopped by Texas officers than Anglos. Latino drivers are 1.4 times more likely to be searched.
While more than 400 police and sheriff's departments responded to an open records request for the demographic information to compile the report, more than 600 others ignored it.
Civil rights groups called for immediate action on local and state levels, including putting enforcement teeth into the law aimed at combatting the widespread practice of racial profiling by police.
"Nobody thought that Texas Senate Bill 1074 would pass and suddenly racial profiling in the state would end," said Will Harrell, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas and the chief lobbyist for the law, which passed in 2001.
"What it is is a measuring stick. It provides the police departments with a means to measure how they're doing and now that they know, they have to go about seeing what they can do to remedy the problems."
"That includes training of line officers, discipline, sanctions and even termination in some cases."
The work, in some cases, will be uphill. Only 413 agencies responded to the civil rights coalition that commissioned the report.
Of those, more than a third did not report the basic stop, search and arrest data required by the new law. More than 83 percent of departments did not use any auditing procedures to ensure against human errors, technical mistakes or data tampering.
"The question is," said Harrell, "'Wwhich of the laws do they think doesn't apply to them. Is it the Open Records Act or the racial profiling law?'"
HPD spokesman Alvin Wright said police officials would have to thoroughly examine the report before commenting on the department's poor showing. But he noted that HPD provides cultural sensitivity training for officers in an effort to guard against discriminatory treatment.
Racial profiling has become an increasing priority of civil rights groups. Their contention that discrimination is still widespread is supported by other studies ac**** the country.
"These numbers just confirm what Latinos already know from their experiences on Texas roads," said Ana Yáñez-Correa, policy director for the League of United Latin American Citizens of Texas.
"Texans must demand greater oversight of law enforcement and immediate investigation as to the cause of these racial disparities."
In 2002, the first year of data collection under the new state law, every agency was required to report only statistics of traffic stops that resulted in tickets or arrests. It exempted stops that involved pedestrians or resulted in warnings or searches without tickets.
In future years, departments will be required to report more comprehensive data, including whether probable cause to conduct a search existed, whether the officer had the individual's voluntary consent and whether contraband was founding during the search.
But in a major loophole, the law does not require the more in-depth information from departments that currently use audio and visual equipment in vehicles or have even applied for funding to buy any. These exemptions cover a majority of the state's policing departments.
The civil rights groups cited the overall lack of teeth in the law and the absence of standardized reporting as other major failings.
More than a third of the law enforcement agencies surveyed did not report even the basic data required by the new law. Many departments also did not break the data down by race and ethnicity while others used arbitrary or misleading categories, such as counting Latinos as Anglos. One county department considered "Asians" and "Orientals" as two different ethnic groups.
Most departments are not collecting data on stops that do not result in a citation, which leaves out large numbers of motorists who are stopped and possibly searched but not cited or arrested.
"Because the vast majority of agencies did not collect this information, any resulting analysis of racial profiling data, including this one, cannot account for the full set of motorists stopped by police," the report states.
Authored by University of Texas economics professor Dwight Steward of the Steward Research Group and a team of academicians and experts, the report recommends that the Legislature amend the law to require the more comprehensive data from all of the state's law enforcement agencies.
""Agencies should identify any mitigating factors or additional information which may indicate that the racial disparities are caused by legitimate law enforcement practices and not by race-based policing
By LORI RODRIGUEZ
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle
Black motorists stopped by the Houston Police Department are 3.5 times more likely to be searched than Anglos, the worst disparity reported by any major Texas city, according to the first statewide compilation of statistics since law enforcement agencies were required to report racial data on traffic stops.
An analysis of the data from 2002, released today, also found that Hispanic drivers stopped by HPD officers are 2.4 times more likely than Anglos to be searched. (Click here to download full report.)
The analysis of statistics from 413 law enforcement agencies was commissioned by the Texas State Conference of NAACP branches, the League of United Latin American Citizens, the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas and the Texas Criminal Justice Reform Coalition.
It found a similar pattern of discriminatory treatment by traffic police statewide.
About six of every seven law enforcement agencies in Texas are searching black and Latino motorists following a traffic stop at higher rates than Anglos. Three-quarters of the agencies are stopping minorities at significantly higher rates, the report released Tuesday indicated.
Overall, blacks are 1.6 times more likely to be searched after a being stopped by Texas officers than Anglos. Latino drivers are 1.4 times more likely to be searched.
While more than 400 police and sheriff's departments responded to an open records request for the demographic information to compile the report, more than 600 others ignored it.
Civil rights groups called for immediate action on local and state levels, including putting enforcement teeth into the law aimed at combatting the widespread practice of racial profiling by police.
"Nobody thought that Texas Senate Bill 1074 would pass and suddenly racial profiling in the state would end," said Will Harrell, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas and the chief lobbyist for the law, which passed in 2001.
"What it is is a measuring stick. It provides the police departments with a means to measure how they're doing and now that they know, they have to go about seeing what they can do to remedy the problems."
"That includes training of line officers, discipline, sanctions and even termination in some cases."
The work, in some cases, will be uphill. Only 413 agencies responded to the civil rights coalition that commissioned the report.
Of those, more than a third did not report the basic stop, search and arrest data required by the new law. More than 83 percent of departments did not use any auditing procedures to ensure against human errors, technical mistakes or data tampering.
"The question is," said Harrell, "'Wwhich of the laws do they think doesn't apply to them. Is it the Open Records Act or the racial profiling law?'"
HPD spokesman Alvin Wright said police officials would have to thoroughly examine the report before commenting on the department's poor showing. But he noted that HPD provides cultural sensitivity training for officers in an effort to guard against discriminatory treatment.
Racial profiling has become an increasing priority of civil rights groups. Their contention that discrimination is still widespread is supported by other studies ac**** the country.
"These numbers just confirm what Latinos already know from their experiences on Texas roads," said Ana Yáñez-Correa, policy director for the League of United Latin American Citizens of Texas.
"Texans must demand greater oversight of law enforcement and immediate investigation as to the cause of these racial disparities."
In 2002, the first year of data collection under the new state law, every agency was required to report only statistics of traffic stops that resulted in tickets or arrests. It exempted stops that involved pedestrians or resulted in warnings or searches without tickets.
In future years, departments will be required to report more comprehensive data, including whether probable cause to conduct a search existed, whether the officer had the individual's voluntary consent and whether contraband was founding during the search.
But in a major loophole, the law does not require the more in-depth information from departments that currently use audio and visual equipment in vehicles or have even applied for funding to buy any. These exemptions cover a majority of the state's policing departments.
The civil rights groups cited the overall lack of teeth in the law and the absence of standardized reporting as other major failings.
More than a third of the law enforcement agencies surveyed did not report even the basic data required by the new law. Many departments also did not break the data down by race and ethnicity while others used arbitrary or misleading categories, such as counting Latinos as Anglos. One county department considered "Asians" and "Orientals" as two different ethnic groups.
Most departments are not collecting data on stops that do not result in a citation, which leaves out large numbers of motorists who are stopped and possibly searched but not cited or arrested.
"Because the vast majority of agencies did not collect this information, any resulting analysis of racial profiling data, including this one, cannot account for the full set of motorists stopped by police," the report states.
Authored by University of Texas economics professor Dwight Steward of the Steward Research Group and a team of academicians and experts, the report recommends that the Legislature amend the law to require the more comprehensive data from all of the state's law enforcement agencies.
""Agencies should identify any mitigating factors or additional information which may indicate that the racial disparities are caused by legitimate law enforcement practices and not by race-based policing
