Black pedestrians stopped three times more often

Fort Worth Star Telegram ^ | May 16, 2005

[tuffydoodle]

Black pedestrians stopped three times more often

SAN ANTONIO - Police officers stopped black pedestrians last year three times more often than Hispanics or whites in San Antonio.

Once stopped, black and Hispanic pedestrians were searched close to half the time, yet police found contraband 22 percent of the time.

The findings come from an examination of police records by the San Antonio Express-News. The statistics, collected by the San Antonio Police Department in compliance with state law, covered 216,707 officer-initiated contacts in 2004.

Critics said the numbers show officers are overzealous when choosing whom to search. Others said the searches were justified because contraband was found more often on minorities than whites.

Without an exhaustive, costly analysis, the raw data is open to interpretation, Police Chief Albert Ortiz said.

The analysis showed black and Hispanic pedestrians were at least twice as likely to be searched as whites. However, officers found contraband at about the same rates, an indication that the searches were well-founded.

In a report to the City Council, Ortiz wrote that more patrols in high-minority population areas means more minority stops.

With pedestrian stops, the issue of racial profiling is more contentious. Unlike with traffic stops, where drivers' races often are obscured by tinted windows, officers know the race of pedestrians they stop.

"It gives rise to some concern," said one racial profiling expert, Alejandro del Carmen, an associate professor of criminology and criminal justice at the University of Texas at Arlington.

Given the high stop rate for black pedestrians, del Carmen said he would question the wisdom of how police use their discretion.

[conservativecorner]

Which is because many of those people live in areas of very high crime rates, and it's the only way to deter criminals, but if the black leadership in the communities want the police to pull back, I'm sure that that can be arranged. How long do you think it would take for them to beg the police to come back? A New York Minute would be my guess.

[raybbr]

Once stopped, black and Hispanic pedestrians were searched close to half the time, yet police found contraband 22 percent of the time.

I notice the percentage of times contraband was found on whites was left out. Could it be that it was much lower???

[tuffydoodle]

This appears to be a bogus article. It's not been posted at dfw.com in the last seven days. That, or they've pulled it, which I can't imagine why.


http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/state/11659339.htm

[Publius6961]

BUMP!

[Lazamataz]

Once stopped, black and Hispanic pedestrians were searched close to half the time, yet police found contraband 22 percent of the time.

A 22% hit rate is awfully high. I'd say that justifies the stops.

[Lazamataz]

If you don't want to be stopped by cops, stop dressing and acting like you just came from a gang fight. Police officers have to make judgments on what they see and hear. Perceptions are everything. A good example of this is that I have been driving "little old lady's cars" since I started driving as a teenage boy. I have never been stop by a cop in the thirty-odd years since I first took the wheel.

I, on the other hand, drive this (complete with the bodies):

.... and I look like this....

....so I am constantly getting stopped.

[whereasandsoforth]

I think my daughter use to date you! The baby is growing like a weed!