Study Finds Racial Profiling in Oakland Police Department Stops
Tron Nick
Do You Believe in the Existence of Racial Profiling? Well, Whites Need Proof. Study after Study.
A study released Tuesday that looked at racial profiling in traffic stops by the Oakland Police Department found mixed results. The study conducted by Santa Monica-based RAND Corp. for the Police Department found mixed evidence of racial bias in officers' initial decisions to stop motorists, but evidence of bias in certain enforcement actions was found. The study found that during the daylight hours, when the race of a driver could be easily determined, 50 percent of drivers stopped were black. This compared to 54 percent of drivers at night when their race could not be easily determined. Using information given by officers involved in traffic stops, researchers found that when officers knew the race of a driver in advance, 66 percent stopped were black, compared with 45 percent when the officers did not report knowing the race in advance. The study also found that officers were twice as likely to conduct a probable-cause search of a black driver than a non-black driver. Of these searches, 18 percent resulted in arrests, casting doubt on the reasons the searches were conducted, RAND reported. [more ]
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