Recently, The New York Times published a piece entitled, “The Disproportionate Risks of Driving While Black.” Written by Sharon LaFraniere and Andrew W. Lehren, the article investigates the racial biases in officers’ traffic stop patterns by incorporating national statistics while focusing specifically on Greensboro, North Carolina. Their conclusions are incredibly informative, and I encourage everyone to read the full piece. But here are my top takeaways, just in case you’re having a busy week!
- In Greensboro, black residents were “39 percent of Greensboro’s driving-age population,” but made up “54 percent of the drivers pulled over.”
- Demonstrating the aggression behind this racial bias, officers used force more often against black drivers, even when those drivers were not physically resisting.
- Although national statistics show comparable rates of marijuana use between blacks and whites, blacks in Greensboro are charged with minor marijuana possession “five times as often as white residents are.”
- Data from four states found that officers are also more likely to conduct “consent” searches on black drivers, even though white motorists are more likely to be found with drugs and guns.
- Moreover, black drivers in Greensboro are let go without any infraction or warning more often than whites, which raises the question: why are they being stopped in the first place?
- This constant harassment impacts community-police relationships over time. Delores Jones-Brown, a professor at John Jay College of Justice, noted that this treatment makes minorities less willing to support police as they attempt to reduce and solve crime.
- There is, however, a measure of promising news in another state. After finding racial disparities in traffic stops, Connecticut worked to mitigate those trends by empowering citizens to report negative police interactions. In Connecticut, if an officer pulls over a resident, he or she must give that driver a card that contains details on how to file complaints.
For a deeper look at the risks of “driving while black,” read the full article here.
Did you read the full article? Let us know your takeaways in the comments below!
