Missouri police stop black drivers 75% more often than white drivers
2014 was the biggest disparity in traffic stops since data became available
Police in Missouri are 75 per cent more likely to stop a black driver than they are a white driver, the largest disparity since the state began collecting such data 15 years ago.
That data comes from the report by Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster on 2014 traffic stops in the state, the Associated Press reported. The numbers show that black drivers are more likely to be pulled over with each year that passes.
In 2013, blacks were 66 per cent more likely to be pulled over than whites. In 2000 the disparity was just 31 per cent.
The attorney general’s report comes less than a year after Missouri saw the death of Michael Brown at the hands of a white police officer and a report out of the city of Ferguson claiming that police used minority traffic stops to generate revenue.
Mr Koster said that with 622 law enforcement agencies in Missouri, it is hard to determine a simple explanation of the disparities in traffic stops between whites and blacks. The attorney general’s office examined 1.7 million traffic stops.
“(The report) provides law enforcement, legislators and the public a starting point as they consider improvements to process and changes to policy to address these issues,” the attorney general said in a statement.
The report shows that Hispanic drivers are stopped less than both black and white drivers, though both blacks and Hispanics were searched more often than whites. When searched, white drivers turned up more contraband than other drivers.
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