RACE DISPARITY SEEN IN TRAFFIC STOPS, SEARCHES

Minorities, Law Enforcement Debate Whether Study Shows Profiling

AUSTIN - Blacks and Hispanics stopped for traffic violations are more
likely to be searched than Anglos in six of every seven jurisdictions in
Texas, a statewide study of police records released Tuesday shows.

Minorities also are pulled over and ticketed at a higher rate than white
drivers by three-fourths of law-enforcement departments, according to the
study commissioned by a coalition of civil rights groups.

The data, collected from 413 law enforcement agencies and based on 2002
traffic records, indicates racial profiling, said Will Harrell, state
executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union.

"The numbers demonstrate everything to me that we've known and have been
saying for years. But the numbers say so objectively," Mr. Harrell said.
Dwight Steward, the University of Texas economics professor who compiled
the study, said the data showed significant racial disparities that could
not be explained statistically.

"I can't say it's racial profiling, but I think there's something behind
it," he said.

James McLaughlin Jr., executive director of the Texas Police Chiefs
Association, said the racial-profiling assertion is the same one he's heard
for years - and he says the numbers do not necessarily prove the allegation.

"It depends on if you're talking about a time of day, a part of town, a
particular shift," he said, adding that the crime history of an area also
plays a role in who is searched.

"All these things have to be factored in," said Mr. McLaughlin, who was
police chief in Addison for 10 years.

Communication a key

He also said that the most frequent problem in the field is how officers
communicate with the often-agitated motorist who has been pulled over.

"Of course, you have to accept there have been incidents of racial
profiling. Do I think it's widespread? No." he said.

Among the study's findings:

Compared with Anglos, Hispanic drivers are most likely to be pulled over
and searched in North Texas - 1.9 times the rate of white drivers. For
blacks, the highest rate is in South Texas, where they are 2.2 times as
likely as whites to be searched.

In larger cities that supplied the data, searches of minority drivers,
while conducted at a higher rate, were about as likely or much less likely
to produce illegal contraband than those of white drivers.

A black driver in Houston is 3.5 times more likely to be searched than a
white driver - the highest rate among city police departments in the
report. For Hispanics, the Dallas Police Department recorded the highest
search rate relative to whites - about three-times the rate for whites.

Senior Cpl. Chris Gilliam, a Dallas police spokesman, said that after a
traffic stop, "there are a myriad of reasons why people might be searched."

He said the department's examination of its 2002 traffic citation data
showed that officers made 888,000 stops and that among those, 12 civilian
complaints alleged racial profiling.

"Eight of those were found to be inconclusive or unfounded," he said. The
four others were still being investigated at the time of the study.

"Our policy is simple and to the point: We don't condone racial profiling
and neither does the city of Dallas," Cpl. Gilliam said.

The study was prepared for the Texas Criminal Justice Reform Coalition, the
ACLU, the League of United Latin American Citizens of Texas and the Texas
State Conference of NAACP Branches.

"What you could say is that the numbers show there are strong racial
disparities that demand strong investigations," said Eva Owens, program
director for the justice reform coalition.

She said her group seeks better data collection and uniform reporting methods.

For instance, the study showed that 140 departments did not report basic
data about stops, searches and arrests, which are required under state law.

"I think departments have to take it seriously and they need to look at
officer-level data to see if there's a problem with a particular officer,"
Ms. Owens said.

'Greater oversight'

Ana Yanez-Correa, policy director for LULAC, said the numbers "just confirm
what Latinos already know from their experiences on Texas roads."

"Texans must demand greater oversight of law enforcement and immediate
investigation as to the cause of these racial disparities," she said.

Said Mr. Harrell of the ACLU: "I think the police would be wise to address
the cycle of denial and address this problem once and forever."

The findings in Tuesday's report reflect similar findings reported by The
Dallas Morning News in 2000 and early 2001 in stories that looked at
traffic citations issued by the Department of Public Safety.

In 2001, the Legislature passed a law requiring most law enforcement
agencies to compile data on traffic stops and searches.

Data for 2003 are expected next month.

STOPPING TO SEARCH The racial stop-and-search records of three major law
enforcement agencies: Race % searched of people stopped % who had
contraband Austin Police Department Black 7.3 34.1 Hispanic 6.9 16.8
Anglo 3.2 24.2 Dallas County Sheriff's Office Black 1.2 14.9
Hispanic 1.6 12.8 Anglo 0.9 19.9 Houston Police Department Black
6.3 6.2 Hispanic 4.4 3.9 Anglo 1.8 8.4 San Antonio Police Department
Black 19.7 8.1 Hispanic 17.3 13.9 Anglo 8.2 16.3 SOURCE: Texas
Criminal Justice Reform Coalition