For the eighteenth year in a row, black drivers in Missouri were more likely to be stopped by police than white drivers in 2017, according a report released by Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley.
The Vehicle Stops Report, which is released every year according to state law, shows that black drivers across the state of Missouri were 85 percent more likely than their white counterparts to be stopped by police officers in 2017. This is despite the fact that white drivers were actually more likely to be found with contraband.
The police departments of both St. Louis and St. Louis County were about 50 percent more likely to stop black drivers than white drivers, according to the report. Some suburban municipalities in the St. Louis area had much greater disparities; the worst was the Webster Groves Police Department, which was over five times more likely to stop a black driver.
Redditt Hudson, vice president of Civil Rights and Advocacy at the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, said the report was “disappointing, again, for the eighteenth year in a row.”
Hudson and leaders from other advocacy groups held a press conference June 4 to express their frustration with the continued pattern of racial profiling and to call on the Missouri Legislature to pass what is known as the Fourth Amendment Affirmation Act, which they see as a potential solution. The conference was hosted at the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis by the Coalition for Fair Policing, which also includes ACLU, the NAACP, the Anti-Defamation League and Empower Missouri.
The proposed Fourth Amendment Protection Act consists of HB 2172 and SB 828. The bills would require police officers to have clear reasons for stopping drivers and would establish a policy requiring drivers to give their signature before a consensual search of their vehicle takes place, to establish evidence that they actually consented to the search.
Additionally, the act would require police departments to either eliminate or provide an explanation for racial differences in the rates at which drivers are stopped.
“With the Fourth Amendment Affirmation Act, Missouri has an opportunity to lead by analyzing our data thoroughly and acting on data that raises red flags,” ACLU organizer Mustafa Abdullah said.
Abdullah encouraged all state legislators to support the bill, which recently passed the review of the Missouri House’s Crime Prevention and Public Safety Committee. He also called on Hawley to meet with community activists to discuss the report’s findings.
In a message posted alongside the report, Hawley said his office is working to improve the quality of its data collection.
“Both law enforcement and community groups have raised concerns that some regulations are vague or unclear,” Hawley stated. “These issues may lead to inconsistent or inaccurate data reporting in some cases, which may affect the value of certain information contained in the report. I look forward to working with all stakeholders over the coming months to consider any revisions or updates that can strengthen the Vehicle Stop Report.”
John Chasnoff, co-chairman of the Coalition Against Police Crimes and Repression, said many police departments included in the report have flawed methods of data collection, but the findings of the report as a whole remain sound.
Chasnoff said the report does show some evidence that change is possible, however. It found that in St. Louis, Hispanics are now about as likely to be arrested as whites, and actually less likely to be stopped while driving. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, only 4 percent of city residents are Hispanic, whereas blacks form a plurality with 47 percent of the city’s population.
Hudson said it is particularly disappointing to see no improvement for black drivers in the state so long after the Forward Through Ferguson report drew attention to the problem and called for action to decrease it.
“It is really an indictment of our will to do the right thing and our will to acknowledge the full extent of the problem,” Hudson said. “And it is a problem. It reflects the way that race impacts not only police-community interaction, but every part of our criminal justice system and every part of our society.”
Sergeant Heather Taylor of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, who is president of the Ethical Society of Police, said there was no way to deny that the report reflected racial bias in policing.
“Post-Ferguson, we had an opportunity to do something in this city, in this state, that would have shown the entire world that we were really about change,” Taylor said. “But we haven’t.”
The full Vehicle Stops Report, along with analysis of the data, can be found at https://ago.mo.gov/home/vehicle-stops-report/2017-executive-summary.
