Even Though Blacks are More Likely to be Stopped New Jersey Police Deny Racial Profiling
/Black drivers are more likely than
whites to be stopped by police on parts of the New Jersey Turnpike, but
there is no evidence it's because of racial profiling, according to a
report released Thursday. The finding could stem from the fact that the
chances of any vehicle being pulled over on southern segments of the
Turnpike are higher, or that blacks make up a greater proportion of the
motorists driving in those areas, according to the report, entitled
"New Jersey State Police and Stop Data: What Do We Know, What Should We
Know and What Should We Do." The 40-page report, by the Police
Institute at Rutgers-Newark and the Rutgers University School of
Criminal Justice, stemmed from an examination into whether data on
police stops can be used to accurately gauge whether state police still
engage in racial profiling. A spokesman for troopers called the report
vindicating, but a civil liberties advocate said it relied on suspect
data and raised more questions than it answered. In 1999, New Jersey
State Police _ under criticism after a Turnpike traffic stop in which
four unarmed minority men were shot at by troopers _ admitted to
targeting minority motorists for traffic stops and agreed to submit to
federal monitoring aimed at ending the practice. As part of a five-year
consent decree entered into by the state, state police had to collect
and make public records about traffic stops. Two years ago, the Police
Institute was asked to analyze stop data to determine why 30 percent of
the traffic stops made on the southern stretches of the Turnpike
involved minority drivers, as opposed to 16 percent on other parts of
the Turnpike. [more]
- While blacks make up just 6
percent of the city's population, according to 2000 U.S. Census data,
they accounted for 16.5 percent of traffic stops. Hispanics, who make
up just over 4 percent of the population, were the targets of 6 percent
of non-cited traffic stops. [more]
