The Vermont State Police has released the latest set of data on racial disparities in traffic stops.
The release comes as more information is available on traffic stops and race from law enforcement agencies across the state.
Under Vermont law, police are required to keep information on traffic stops, tracking how many stops resulted in verbal warnings, tickets, and searches, as well as how often searches of drivers turned up contraband.
The 2016 dataset from the Vermont State Police shows a decrease in the rate at which troopers searched African American drivers after a traffic stop.
In 2015, state troopers searched African-American drivers during a traffic stop at a rate of 5.1 percent. That decreased to 2.6 percent in 2016. Of 1,157 black drivers stopped last year, 29 were searched.
In the same time period, the search rate of white drivers was consistent at approximately 1 percent. In 2016, troopers searched 428 of the total 48,684 white drivers who were stopped.
Cpt. Ingrid Jonas, director of fair and impartial policing and community affairs for the Vermont State Police, said she is “encouraged” by the latest by changes in the data that suggest a decrease in disparity in search rates. However, she said, it is not clear what conclusions can be drawn by that information.
“We have more to learn about what data can tell us,” Jonas said.
Jonas said there has been significant improvement in the quality of the data the statewide police force collected last year.
In 2015, more than 5 percent of the data was missing; in 2016, less than 1 percent of the data was missing.
Officials say that the quality of the data was improved by trainings for all officers and civilian staff on the importance of the data collection program, as well as more instruction on how to collect it properly.
Since October, every trooper in the state has had training on the data collection efforts, Jonas said. She expects the quality of the data will improve further in the current calendar year.
Jay Diaz, a staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Vermont, said that though the data indicates some decrease in racial disparities, there are still significant issues.
“The data still tells us that driving while black in Vermont means you’re more likely to be stopped, you’re more likely to be searched, you’re more likely to be ticketed, and you’re less likely to be warned,” Diaz said. “So we still have work to do.”
Diaz said that while data collection is recent, the problem is not.
“In the eyes of the people who have been impacted, it’s not a new issue,” Diaz said.
The state police data release comes as Vermont has moved closer to having traffic stop data from readily available from all police departments across the state.
The Vermont Crime Research Group has collected datasets on traffic stops from almost every law enforcement agency in the state. The raw data is published on their website.
Under Vermont statute, all law enforcement agencies are required to collect data on traffic stops. However, there have been obstacles to creating a centralized source for that information.
Karen Gennette, executive director of the Crime Research Group, said the dataset is a starting point.
“It’s only going to get better,” Gennette said. “The whole point of it is to get this collected for the first time.”
Though strides have been made in collecting the data and transferring it to the Crime Research Group, there are some challenges with the information, according to Gennette.
There is no standardization for coding and data entry, for instance. Some data sets are for a calendar year, while others start part way through a year. In some cases, there is missing data.
Gennette said police data collection is helpful for informing conversations about racial disparities in law enforcement in the state. The data can help individuals learn more about what is going on in their communities, she said.
“It’s a part of the discussion, it’s not the entire discussion,” Gennette said. “It’s a good indicator of what’s going on in the state.”
