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‘Pretextual fishing expeditions’

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Illinois

* Click here for the IDOT study. ACLU of Illinois…

Police in Illinois conducted nearly 200,000 more traffic stops in 2023 compared to the previous year. The 12% increase in traffic stops means that more than 500 motorists in Illinois were stopped for each day of 2023 compared to 2022. Longstanding racial disparities persisted, with Black and Latino drivers stopped at higher rates than white drivers in almost all localities. The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) released its Traffic Stop Study Act Report for 2023 on July 1, 2024, based on data that every law enforcement agency in the state is supposed to report annually, although about 20% of agencies failed to submit the required data for 2023.

New this year, IDOT analyzed individual drivers who were stopped multiple times in 2023, finding that Black drivers were about three times more likely to be stopped a total of two to ten times, and nine times more likely to be stopped more than 10 times compared to white drivers who were stopped.

The data suggests that many of the stops of Black drivers are pretextual “fishing expeditions” to search for evidence of unrelated crimes based on racial stereotypes, not to enforce road safety. Police were more likely to stop Black drivers for suspected equipment and registration violations, while white drivers were stopped more often for moving violations. And Black motorists are less likely to be cited for these violations than their white counterparts.

The IDOT data also shows that racially disparate stops are not effective at fighting crime. Statewide, more than 97% of all stops of Black drivers, and more than 98% of all stops of Latino drivers, did not result in police finding any contraband. The minuscule contraband recovery rates have remained consistently low for years.

“With 20 years of data reflecting ongoing racial and ethnic disparities in traffic stops, localities in Illinois can no longer ignore this problem. Police departments’ refusal to remedy these unjustified disparities amounts to intentional discrimination,” said Alexandra Block, director of the Criminal Legal System and Policing Project at the ACLU of Illinois. “This reality should cause public officials at the state and local level to convene a public discussion about how to fix the persistent biases in traffic stops.”

The IDOT report demonstrates that, statewide, police officers stop Black drivers at 1.7 times the rate of white drivers. For Latino drivers, the rate is 1.11 times. Beneath the statewide numbers, many communities across the state saw much wider disparities for Black and Latino drivers. For example:

• In Aurora, Black drivers were 4.1 times more likely to be stopped than white motorists, and Latino drivers were 2.4 times more likely to be stopped than white drivers;
• Belleville police were four times more likely to stop Black drivers than white drivers;
• In Bloomington, Black drivers were more than 4 times more likely to be stopped than white drivers, while Latino drivers were 2.7 times more likely to be stopped than white drivers;
• Champaign police stopped Black drivers at a rate 6 times higher than white drivers and Latino drivers were 2.5 times more likely to be stopped than white drivers;
• Danville police stopped Black drivers at a rate nearly 5 times higher than white drivers;
• In Kankakee, police stopped Black drivers at a rate 5.5 times higher than white drivers;
• In Naperville, Black drivers are nearly 4.5 times more likely to be stopped when compared to white drivers, and Latino drivers are 1.6 times more likely to be stopped than white drivers;
• Peoria police stopped Black drivers 5.4 times more often than white drivers, and Latino drivers were nearly 2 times more likely to be stopped than white drivers;
• In Springfield, the state capitol, Black motorists were 5.7 more likely to be stopped than white drivers; and,
• In Urbana, police stopped Black drivers at a rate 5.5 times higher than white drivers and Latino drivers were 2.7 times more likely to be stopped compared to white drivers.

“Sadly, the story remains the same,” added Block. “Black and Latino drivers continue to be more likely to be stopped at a higher rate in many communities around Illinois. Nothing has changed. The embarrassment, humiliation and disruption caused by thousands of unnecessary stops of Black and Latino drivers continues to waste police resources and create resentment between the police and the communities they serve – all without enhancing public safety or reducing crashes.”

“With the number of traffic stops escalating, it is time for serious action to fix their disproportionate burden on Black and Latino drivers in Illinois.”

Discuss.

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Jul 11, 24 @ 11:03 am

Comments

This is one of the best arguments for expanding the use of automated traffic enforcement — those cameras don’t discriminate. Reassign officers to detective and community policing work (like walking beats.)

Comment by TNR Thursday, Jul 11, 24 @ 11:15 am
“Black and Latino drivers stopped at higher rates than white drivers in almost all localities”;

who are these exceptions?
what are they doing differently?
what can be learned from them?

Comment by MattMan Thursday, Jul 11, 24 @ 11:29 am
The good stuff is always found in the Appendix(E).

“A study in Missouri showed that traffic stop arrest rates increase and citations among white drivers rise when there is high local municipal budget distress.”

Comment by TheInvisibleMan Thursday, Jul 11, 24 @ 11:46 am
“This reality should cause public officials at the state and local level to convene a public discussion about how to fix the persistent biases in traffic stops.”

Newsflash for Alexandra Block: public officials at the state and local level are not going to do a thing to limit predatory policing. The dirty big secret in Illinois is that while the federal authorities are cracking down on CPD and Cook County, the most police abuse is now in small towns and rural areas. This will not change until the feds implement a consent decree on a small town Sheriff’s department to send a message that they are watching the whole state.

Comment by Payback Thursday, Jul 11, 24 @ 12:15 pm
==This is one of the best arguments for expanding the use of automated traffic enforcement — those cameras don’t discriminate. Reassign officers to detective and community policing work (like walking beats.)==

Yet all I hear is that automated traffic enforcement is racist and only affects Black and Latino drivers.

https://www.propublica.org/article/chicagos-race-neutral-traffic-cameras-ticket-black-and-latino-drivers-the-most

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/why-automated-speed-cameras-disproportionately-affect-black-and-brown-drivers

A police officer makes a traffic stop from a vehicle committing a traffic violation. A police officer doing radar enforcement generally doesn’t know the race of the driver until the stop and contact is made. Maybe, just maybe, it’s the drivers themselves instead that are creating the traffic stop and that race is not a factor.

Comment by Stas Thursday, Jul 11, 24 @ 12:18 pm
Agree with TNR

Comment by Just a Citizen Thursday, Jul 11, 24 @ 12:28 pm
The “outcome of stop” chart on page 31 is the most glaring to me. By far white drivers who get stopped get citations the most, while black drivers get the least. This just screams out that the stops of black drivers are far more likely to be pretextual.

Comment by Homebody Thursday, Jul 11, 24 @ 12:32 pm
Police tend to patrol more in areas that experience high rates of crime.

Police on patrol pull over cars when they have reason to believe a driver committed a traffic violation.

With more police patrolling high crime areas, the residents of those communities are more likely to be pulled over for even minor traffic violations.

I would argue that if police patrolled all areas of a city equally, we’d see less racial disparity in these statistics.

But then we’d still have the problem of criminal activity occurring in neighborhoods dominated by low-income and minority residents. So the answer isn’t to reduce patrols, but to reduce criminal behavior. And I don’t have a great solution to that.

I think studies like this tend to focus too much on racial disparities of police stops and make a case that policing is biased. I don’t think that is helpful. Blaming police for doing their job is counter-intuitive. Yes, some cops have been shown to target minority drivers, but if you accept this study as proof of that, you are drawing meaningless conclusions.

Comment by 47th Ward Thursday, Jul 11, 24 @ 12:49 pm
Interesting stat about Urbana. They were among the first to ban the box, voted to impeach President Bush many times, and have long been a liberal/progressive enclave. Would’ve thought that it wasn’t an issue there.

I guess my question after reading this is, how does it compare to the rates in states similar in size and demographics to Illinois?

Comment by Notorious JMB Thursday, Jul 11, 24 @ 1:06 pm
It’s interesting to see people try to explain away the facts. Why would citation demographics be different from any other part of the criminal justice system? Disproportionate arrest rates are what lead to disproportionate representation in Illinois prisons. The issue is systemic, not limited to any one touchpoint.

Comment by Politix Thursday, Jul 11, 24 @ 2:01 pm
Where exactly are the traffic stops occurring? In the Chicago area, there is so little traffic enforcement that some motorists are driving like they are performing stunts in a remake of “Death Race 2000.” It seems like cameras issue more tickets than actual police officers. Running stop signs and red lights, making illegal turns and maneuvers are the norm now. You have to drive defensively at all times to avoid accidents.

Comment by Gravitas Thursday, Jul 11, 24 @ 2:14 pm
- 47th Ward - Thursday, Jul 11, 24 @ 12:49 pm:

In Chicago, the police pull people over in Austin while not showing up to 911 calls. The stops almost never result in a citation, let alone a drug or gun seizure. Your entire comment is based not on the real-life evidence, but a scenario you’ve made up.

https://blockclubchicago.org/2021/11/19/west-siders-would-call-911-but-no-officers-would-show-up-after-lawsuit-city-now-must-track-emergency-response-times/

Comment by Google Is Your Friend Thursday, Jul 11, 24 @ 2:56 pm
Thank you Gravitas. Great points.

Comment by Jerry Thursday, Jul 11, 24 @ 3:03 pm
Well this proves that “driving while Black” is actually a very real thing and this is data to back it up.

Comment by levivotedforjudy Thursday, Jul 11, 24 @ 3:07 pm
I found this on Google:

“Each of the department’s 22 districts has between 239 and 371 officers assigned to patrol, according to data made available by the Office of Inspector General.

The most violent and most populated districts — Harrison (11th) and Near North (18th), respectively — have the most cops on patrol. Meanwhile, the two quietest districts — Jefferson Park (16th) and Lincoln (20th) — have the fewest.”

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2024/02/05/chicago-police-deployment-report-retirement-age/

Or maybe I am making it all up.

Comment by 47th Ward Thursday, Jul 11, 24 @ 3:38 pm
47th ward is on it. numbers yield numbers.

Comment by Amalia Thursday, Jul 11, 24 @ 3:57 pm
===The total number of reported traffic stops in 2023 was 2,260,647, a 12% increase from 2022
(Figure 1a).===

Odd emphasis. Overall traffic stops still down from pre-covid.

From the 2020 report/2019 data. The results of the data collection are that 796 agencies generated data on 2,483,904 traffic stops
in 2019.

Comment by Occasionally Moderated Thursday, Jul 11, 24 @ 4:19 pm
Suburban cop: the reason I pulled you over was because you have one of your side marker lights out. Me: Sorry officer, I did not know that, I will get that fixed right away.
Cop: I HAVE TO write you a citation, our department policy. We can write a local ticket that does not go on your driving record, or if you prefer you can have a state ticket. Your choice.

Comment by Dupage Thursday, Jul 11, 24 @ 4:33 pm
- So the answer isn’t to reduce patrols, but to reduce criminal behavior. -

We’re not talking about patrols, we’re talking about traffic stops. And while CPD is wasting their time harassing black and brown motorists they aren’t improving on their horrific clearance rates. Did you miss the part about 97% - 98% of these stops resulting in nothing criminal?

But by all means continue trying to spin why it makes sense that black drivers are 4 to 6 times more likely to get pulled over than white drivers.

Comment by Excitable Boy Thursday, Jul 11, 24 @ 5:53 pm
EB, go back and read what I actually wrote, not what you think I wrote. And read slower this time. Let me know if you need help with the big words.

Comment by 47th Ward Thursday, Jul 11, 24 @ 6:03 pm
Thanks 47th, though you’re no doubt an esteemed intellectual you didn’t use any words that were terribly large. Let’s take a look.

- Police tend to patrol more in areas that experience high rates of crime. -

There are other policing strategies beyond traffic stops.

- Police on patrol pull over cars when they have reason to believe a driver committed a traffic violation. -

The last 10 years I’ve averaged about 35k - 45k miles driven per year, in cities and highways all over the Midwest. Every day I commit traffic violations and I’ve been pulled over 3 times in that time period with zero citations.

- With more police patrolling high crime areas, the residents of those communities are more likely to be pulled over for even minor traffic violations. -

Again, there are many other things they could be doing besides harassing motorists.

- I would argue that if police patrolled all areas of a city equally, we’d see less racial disparity in these statistics. -

Maybe less, but I’d bet my life savings there would still be a pretty stark disparity.

- But then we’d still have the problem of criminal activity occurring in neighborhoods dominated by low-income and minority residents. So the answer isn’t to reduce patrols, but to reduce criminal behavior. And I don’t have a great solution to that. -

Not wasting time on traffic stops would be a good start.

- I think studies like this tend to focus too much on racial disparities of police stops and make a case that policing is biased. I don’t think that is helpful. Blaming police for doing their job is counter-intuitive. Yes, some cops have been shown to target minority drivers, but if you accept this study as proof of that, you are drawing meaningless conclusions. -

They aren’t doing their jobs, they’re being lazy and biased. There is no rational excuse for this disparity.

Hope that helps.

Comment by Excitable Boy Thursday, Jul 11, 24 @ 8:36 pm
===We’re not talking about patrols, we’re talking about traffic stops.===

===There are other policing strategies beyond traffic stops.===

Maybe it’s me, but it kind of feels like the goal posts have been moved.

Comment by 47th Ward Thursday, Jul 11, 24 @ 9:18 pm
- Maybe it’s me, but it kind of feels like the goal posts have been moved. -

Maybe you should try going back and reading it slower.

Comment by Excitable Boy Thursday, Jul 11, 24 @ 9:26 pm
Just a few days ago I turned left out of a stop light intersection into the right lane of a 4-lane street. I was driving slowly, so was surprised I was pulled over. Cop told me I changed lanes without signaling. He took my DL back to his car and then returned, giving me a verbal warning. I am white. But now I know why I got pulled over…I was driving in a black neighborhood in Springfield! Many times the cop won’t know the race before pulling a driver over, but there is probably an overabundance of stops in black neighborhoods and most drivers there are black.

Comment by Watchdog Friday, Jul 12, 24 @ 12:27 am