Why Racial Profiling is a Myth

[fushigi]

Story.

Amazing. Blacks and Hispanics are no more likely to be stopped while driving than whites, AND are more likely to be let off--without even getting a warning.

True, they are 2-3 times more likely to be searched, but then again, they're about 7 times more likely to have a criminal record.

Now, you can say blacks are convicted more often for crimes, and that's not fair. But that doesn't change the fact that when a cop pulls over a motorist who has a criminal record, it's simply his job to check for guns and dope.

The final analysis is, "driving while black" and "driving while Hispanic" is a myth, folks.

fushigi

[grandpa]

Quote by: fushigi Blacks and Hispanics are no more likely to be stopped while driving than whites, AND are more likely to be let off--without even getting a warning.

What about the LA Police Department data released in 2003 indicating that blacks and hispanics are more likely to be stopped and searched by Los Angeles police officers than whites or Asians?

Grandpa h.

[RickSp]

The final analysis is, "driving while black" and "driving while Hispanic" is a myth, folks.

That may be true - in Beijing. Along the New Jersey Turnpike for quite a few years it was pretty well documented. The State Attorney General decided that it was real.

SELECTED HIGHLIGHTS OF THE INTERIM REPORT OF THE STATE POLICE REVIEW TEAM REGARDING ALLEGATIONS OF RACIAL PROFILING

The Review Team believes that the great majority of state troopers are honest, dedicated professionals who are committed to enforcing the laws fairly and impartially. The Review Team has determined that the State Police has not issued or embraced an official policy to engage in racial profiling or any other discriminatory enforcement practices. In fact, the State Police has undertaken a number of steps to prohibit racial profiling, including issuing Standard Operating Procedures banning such practices; providing in-service training programs and bulletins; requiring state troopers to have reasonable suspicion before requesting permission to search thereby imposing a prerequisite to consent searches that goes beyond the requirements of state or federal caselaw; and prohibiting the patrol tactic of spotlighting the occupants of motor vehicles at night before deciding whether to initiate a stop. Despite these official policies and preventative steps, the Interim Report concludes that the problem of racial profiling is real and that minority motorists have been treated differently than non-minority motorists during the course of traffic stops on the New Jersey Turnpike. The problem is more complex and subtle than has generally been reported.

[The Decider]

Quote by: fushigi Story. Amazing. Blacks and Hispanics are no more likely to be stopped while driving than whites, AND are more likely to be let off--without even getting a warning.

As the OP/Ed stated, the lack of a warning after the traffic stop could be evidence of no or little probable cause for the pullover. For example, as grandpa mentioned, in the LA area, especially in Beverly Hills, there were several high profile "stings" in the 1980s and 1990s by black drivers in high-end cars. They were pulled over by police, briefly questioned, and released without citation or warning. That's racial profiling.

Growing up in Los Angeles we knew the cops pulled over blacks and Hispanics in our mixed-race neighborhood. The pullover was itself the warning--"we're watching you." To give you an example of the double-standard used by the LAPD, I once drove through a red light from a standing stop at 2 am. I saw nobody around at the time. But I didn't notice the car behind me due to the steep incline of the street--and my inebriation (this was long before all the drunk driving awareness and MADD, lucky for me). It was an LAPD cruiser. As he pulled me over I was mentally preparing myself for walking the chalk line and the nose-touching routine, both tests I would have failed miserably. The cop asked for my ID and registration, noted my address nearby, and cautioned me to drive more safely. To this day, I can't believe my fortune that night. An Hispanic or black would not have been so lucky. Guaranteed.

Driving-while-black does exist. It's not a myth. But the question is whether it's as widespread and prevalent as claimed by some civil rights groups. I think it's a mute question. It should never happen. Period. One case is one case too many. So, in my view, the issue is valid, though I must admit I'm glad the double standard existed for me on that early morning traffic stop in LA.

[fushigi]

Quote by: grandpa What about the LA Police Department data released in 2003 indicating that blacks and hispanics are more likely to be stopped and searched by Los Angeles police officers than whites or Asians? Grandpa h.

Have a source? This guy's data comes from the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

[fushigi]

Quote by: Rick Despite these official policies and preventative steps, the Interim Report concludes that the problem of racial profiling is real and that minority motorists have been treated differently than non-minority motorists during the course of traffic stops on the New Jersey Turnpike. The problem is more complex and subtle than has generally been reported.

Sounds like the cops are being mean to minorities, not pulling them over / citing / arresting them more often.

First, is this a problem we need to resolve? Second, how? Sensitivity training?

[fushigi]

Decider,

I read your posts, and like I told Rick I agree that cops are probably not as nice to minorities (but then again, minorities are more likely to be criminals, so...) As for your post, (A) you've got anecdotes, not evidence; (B) your anecdotes are outdated--that is, pre-Rodney King awareness.

Perhaps the article I cited is reason to be optimistic for the future of equality in law enforcement. It is possible that things are changing for the better.

[Alive]

Here's a link to the actual report: Bureau of Justice Statistics Contacts between Police and the Public, 2005

It's entirely possible that racial profiling exists in some regions but gets lost in the data from the nation as a whole.

[fushigi]

Excellent point.

However, Rick's evidence still doesn't prove that minority drivers anywhere are pulled over more often or ticketed / arrested more often--just that they are more likely to be the victims of intimidation.

[ZNFYRH]

I'm raising a similar point as Alive.

I'd like to see the results of a nationwide study.

Use combinations of men, women, couples, groups, and families...

In cars of the expensive, cheap, stereotype-black, stereotype-Hispanic, and family varieties.

There are a significant number of combinations to use, but that's the only way to determine profiling.

[RickSp]

I think any claim that "racial profiling is a myth" is obviously false. That is not say that it occurs everywhere all the time or that it happens with the same frequency today that it did five, ten or twenty years ago. Given that the awareness of racial profiling has risen dramatically in the last few years I would not be surprised to hear that racial profiling has dropped dramatically.

This is not the same as saying that "racial profiling is a myth." In the recent past racial profiling has been well documented. The outcry in New Jersey was directly related to blacks and Hispanics being stopped with a much higher frequency than one might expect. The racial profiling study was prompted by the shooting of three unarmed black and Hispanic men by New Jersey State troopers in what the court ruled to be a case of racial profiling.

New Jersey Racial Profiling Case Reaches Conclusion, Police Officials, Politicians Left Untouched

The New Jersey racial profiling case that led to a national debate on the practice has reached its conclusion. The case that began with a series of bangs on the New Jersey Turnpike has ended with a whimper in a Trenton courtroom with two state troopers taking the fall for a practice encouraged by state and federal officials. But even the troopers didn't do too badly, considering they had opened fire and wounded three unarmed black and Hispanic men on the Turnpike for no apparent reason. Troopers John Hogan and James Kenna pleaded guilty on Tuesday on charges of obstructing the investigation into the April 1998 shootings. They admitted to the court that they had lied to superiors investigating the shootings and that they had intentionally misrepresented the race of other drivers they had stopped in an effort to cover up the fact they were targeting racial minorities. While they had originally been charged with aggravated assault, and Kenna faced an additional charge of attempted murder, in the end they were able to cop a plea. Under the plea agreement, neither man will serve jail time nor undergo probation. Both men also resigned from the police force and promised never to work in law enforcement again. "You are victims not only of your own actions, but of the system which employed you," State Superior Court Judge told the pair, fining each man $280. That wasn't good enough for critics of the practice. "This was not justice," Rev. Reginald T. Jackson of the Black Ministers Council of New Jersey told the New York Times, "and we will not stop until justice is ours. Not one superior officer has been named. Not one superior officer has been removed from employment with the New Jersey State Police." While higher-ups in New Jersey and at the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), which promulgated race-based drug enforcement practices to the states, escaped largely unscathed, the political fallout from the case made racial profiling a national issue and dominated former Gov. Christine Todd Whitman's second term. New Jersey authorities underwent an investigation by the Justice Department and had to enter into a consent decree allowing a court-appointed monitor to oversee the state police. State Supreme Court Justice Peter Verniero, who was attorney general at the time of the incident and its cover-up, was threatened with impeachment for his role, but that move died in the State Assembly. The state settled a civil lawsuit filed by the shooting victims, a group of young men on the way to a basketball camp, agreeing to pay out $12.9 million last February.