DOJ Study: Nationwide Police More Likely to Stop Black & Latino Drivers than Whites & Over 2X as Likely to Threaten or use Force Against Blacks & Latinos During the Stop Compared to Whites

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From [HERE] and [HERE] Police officers were more likely to stop black and Hispanic drivers than white drivers nationwide in 2015 and were over twice as likely to threaten or use physical force against blacks and Hispanics that they stopped compared to whites, according to a new report from the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Although police initiated contact with 8 million fewer people in 2015 compared to 2011, 9.8% of blacks over age 16 experienced the most common type of police contact, traffic stops, compared to 8.6% of Hispanics and 7.6% of whites in the same age group. Blacks also experienced a higher rate of street stops compared to whites and Hispanics. The report uncovered further racial disparities in resident-initiated police contact, with blacks and Hispanics having been less likely than whites to reach out to law enforcement to report a crime or non-crime emergency, or to seek help.

Highlights from the report include the following:

The portion of U.S. residents age 16 or older who had experienced contact with the police in the preceding 12 months declined from 26% in 2011 to 21% in 2015, a drop of more than 9 million people (from 62.9 million to 53.5 million).

  • „  The number of persons experiencing police-initiated contact fell by 8 million (down 23%), the number of persons who initiated contact with the police
    fell by 6 million (down 19%), and the number experiencing contact from trafc accidents did not change signifcantly.

  • „  Whites (23%) were more likely than blacks (20%) or Hispanics (17%) to have contact with police.

  • Police were equally likely to initiate contact with blacks and whites (11% each) but were less likely to initiate contact with Hispanics (9%).

  • Police were more likely to initiate contact with males (12%) than with females (9%), while females (11%) were more likely to initiate contact with police than males (10%).

  • When police initiated the contact, blacks (5.2%) and Hispanics (5.1%) were more likely to experience the threat or use of physical force than whites (2.4%), and males (4.4%) were more likely to experience the threat or use of physical force than females (1.8%). [MORE]