We don’t often have an opportunity to thank the Missouri Legislature, but thanks to a state law passed in 2000 the Missouri Attorney General’s Office is charged each year to gather from statewide law enforcement agencies a uniquely rich data set on racial profiling. A report must be released by June 1, so every year for the past 10 years, right around one of our nation’s busiest driving holidays, Missouri has been reminded that black people in this state are not paranoid when they say they are unfairly targeted by the police for “driving while black.”
In 2009, African Americans represented 10.7 percent of the state population of driving age, but experienced 17.4 percent of all traffic stops. That means African Americans were stopped at a rate 62 percent greater than expected, based on their proportion in the population. Blacks were 70 percent more likely than whites to be stopped by police, and significantly more likely to be searched and arrested, even though when searched black drivers were less likely to be carrying contraband (17.2 percent) than were white drivers (22.6 percent).
Moreover, these disparities for black drivers have worsened in nine of the 10 years these data have been reported. This can only mean that law enforcement agencies in Missouri are comfortable with this trend – and that nothing has been done by the Legislature or any federal agency to make them uncomfortable with an established, documented and worsening pattern of racial profiling.
Racial disparities in traffic stops statewide last year were highest – by a huge margin – in Ladue, with racial profiling second-worst statewide – again, by a huge margin – in Arnold. Both suburbs are understood to be white bastions in diverse metropolitan St. Louis.
The City of Ladue currently is contesting in court claims made by a former police chief that he lost his job when he balked at overtly practicing racial profiling. Mayor Irene Holmes bluntly told then Police Chief Larry White that harassing “those people” was good for Ladue because it set an example that discouraged “those people” from coming back to the leafy suburb. The city attorney has denied that Holmes was referring to black people, claiming she was referring only to criminals. If that is true, it needs some explaining why the racial profiling numbers for Ladue tower over every other police agency in the state.
Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster pointed out that a disparity index of greater than 17.0 for Ladue meant “it was more than 1,700 percent more likely a black driver will be stopped in Ladue based upon the African-American population of Ladue.” If Ladue is, indeed, not trying to send a strong message to black drivers that they are not welcome, then a new message needs to be sent to its police force. The same is true in Arnold, Town and Country, Florissant, Maryland Heights, Overland, Chesterfield, Bridgeton, Creve Coeur, Clayton, Ballwin, Hazelwood and St. Charles, other police agencies in our area that reported among the 20 highest racial disparity indices for black drivers. Otherwise, Missouri is little better than the Arizona Legislature which has in effect mandated its state’s police agencies to practice racial profiling in an effort to crack down on illegal immigration.
If we hear no outcry, and see no change, then we can only conclude that racial profiling is acceptable to the racial majority in Missouri and they do not feel compelled to demand change. And this means that African Americans, confronted with a second-class driver status in this state, are challenged to force the majority to make a change it does not want to make. This worsening injustice should not be acceptable to anyone, especially in the black community. It must be opposed vigorously by all fair-minded Missourians.
