Searches at traffic stops

According to the ACLU, in 2003 blacks and Latinos were more likely to be searched by law enforcement officers at traffic stops than white drivers were.

Blacks were 3.2 times more likely than Anglos to be searched by the Houston Police Department, the report said, down slightly from 2002. Those rates are higher than those reported in Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio and El Paso.

Latinos were 2.5 times more likely than Anglos to be searched by the HPD, up slightly from 2002 and higher than departments in Austin, San Antonio, Fort Worth and El Paso reported.

[...]

"Racial profiling is getting in the way of good policing," said Scott Henson, spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas. "The disparities that were evidenced in last year's report for the most part remained in this year's report at more or less the same levels or sometimes even more significant."

Yes, that's this Scott Henson talking. He's got more coverage at that link, and a link to the report over here.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on February 26, 2005 to Legal matters | TrackBack