KANSAS CITY, MO -
African-American drivers are stopped more often by police in Missouri than any other race. That's according to the latest Vehicle Stops Report. And it concerns Attorney General Chris Koster.
Since 2000, Missouri police officers are required to report specific information about the drivers they pull over. It's meant to prevent racial profiling.
Koster said that this year's report shows black drivers were stopped at increasingly higher rates. He said that the report should be a concern to Missourians.
"The numbers don't surprise me," said Darcel Prewitt of Kansas City, Missouri. "I have a teenage daughter and son and they get pulled over a lot."
The complaints are something that Koster says his office has heard before.
"We have a body of data that indicates we should step back and listen to them," said Koster."The African-American disparity index has increased in nine of the last ten years with uninterrupted increases in each of the past five years."
Koster did not go as far as to characterize this as racial profiling, saying that a high disparity rate does not necessarily prove Missouri drivers are being pulled over for the color of their skin.
The Kansas City Missouri Police Department studied the numbers with input from UMKC to spot any trend that would indicate profiling, and train to avoid it.
"It's something that's difficult to talk about because it's so complex," said Capt. Rich Lockhart of the KCPD. "We don't want to stop people based on skin color. It's something we train our recruits not to do. It's something we remind our officers not to do and we have a policy that forbids it."
The 2009 figures are based on 1.7 million stops by 642 law enforcement agencies, which include racial and ethnic information. Basically, the report shows African-American drivers were pulled over more often than Hispanics and Caucasians. But in the case of search rates after a driver is stopped, more Hispanics and African-Americans were more likely to be searched than Caucasians.
The report compares figures over the past 10 years. It shows African-American drivers were 70 percent more likely than Caucasian drivers to be stopped, compared to 30 percent more likely back in 2000. Hispanic-driver stops decreased from last year to below the rate of Caucasian drivers.
For more information on these statistics, visit Vehicle Stops Report.
Since 2000, Missouri police officers are required to report specific information about the drivers they pull over. It's meant to prevent racial profiling.
Koster said that this year's report shows black drivers were stopped at increasingly higher rates. He said that the report should be a concern to Missourians.
"The numbers don't surprise me," said Darcel Prewitt of Kansas City, Missouri. "I have a teenage daughter and son and they get pulled over a lot."
The complaints are something that Koster says his office has heard before.
"We have a body of data that indicates we should step back and listen to them," said Koster."The African-American disparity index has increased in nine of the last ten years with uninterrupted increases in each of the past five years."
Koster did not go as far as to characterize this as racial profiling, saying that a high disparity rate does not necessarily prove Missouri drivers are being pulled over for the color of their skin.
The Kansas City Missouri Police Department studied the numbers with input from UMKC to spot any trend that would indicate profiling, and train to avoid it.
"It's something that's difficult to talk about because it's so complex," said Capt. Rich Lockhart of the KCPD. "We don't want to stop people based on skin color. It's something we train our recruits not to do. It's something we remind our officers not to do and we have a policy that forbids it."
The 2009 figures are based on 1.7 million stops by 642 law enforcement agencies, which include racial and ethnic information. Basically, the report shows African-American drivers were pulled over more often than Hispanics and Caucasians. But in the case of search rates after a driver is stopped, more Hispanics and African-Americans were more likely to be searched than Caucasians.
The report compares figures over the past 10 years. It shows African-American drivers were 70 percent more likely than Caucasian drivers to be stopped, compared to 30 percent more likely back in 2000. Hispanic-driver stops decreased from last year to below the rate of Caucasian drivers.
For more information on these statistics, visit Vehicle Stops Report.
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