[B]URLINGTON — While black drivers in Burlington are stopped by the Burlington Police Department at a higher rate than white drivers, racial disparities in traffic stops are decreasing, according to a department study.
The department released the complete results of its study Monday before a Tuesday discussion at a Burlington Police Commission meeting.
Black drivers constituted 8% of all drivers stopped by Burlington police, while the census estimates that 4.5% of Burlington residents are black residents over 15 years old. Accident data suggests that black drivers make up between 6% and 7.5% of all drivers.
Traffic stops for both white and black drivers have decreased significantly since 2015, plummeting 57% for black drivers and 52% for white drivers.
Deputy Chief Jon Murad presented the data to the commission Tuesday night, and said that there were a number of encouraging statistics in the data, including the decrease in crashes resulting in injuries, a decline in overall traffic stops and the decreasing racial disparities.
“The big takeaway is trends are going in the right direction — trends of reducing disparity and continued safety in regards of injury in vehicle crashes are going in the right direction,” he said.
But he said there was still work to be done.
“There are disparities that remain, and disparities that we are seeking to reduce,” he said.
In 2018, black drivers were six times more likely than white drivers to get searched after getting stopped, according to the data.
But overall, traffic searches in the city have declined dramatically in the last three years, with the department crediting the legalization of marijuana for the decline.
In the year before the legalization of marijuana, which took effect July 1, 2018, Burlington police searched 63 vehicles, 23 belonging to black drivers.
In the year since the legalization of marijuana, police searched the cars of 19 drivers, three of whom were black.
“The legalization of marijuana significantly changed how traffic stop searches are conducted in Burlington,” the report states.
Burlington police had searched only six cars so far in 2019, none with black drivers.
The legalization of marijuana had a direct effect on the decrease in searches, Murad said.
“Marijuana gave officers a very clear and easily discernible probable cause for searches,” Murad said.
The report also found that drivers with a valid license were equally as likely to receive a ticket or warning regardless of their race. In 2018, 82% of black drivers and 80% of white drivers who were stopped received a warning.
But since 2012, 13% of black motorists stopped by the BPD did not have a valid license, compared to less than 5% of all other drivers, according to the department’s data.
The report states that motorists of color have a harder time adjudicating or paying tickets, which leads to license suspensions.
“The reasons for this are economic, social, cultural, and impact police traffic stop outcomes at the roadside: motorists with suspended licenses are unlikely to get a warning, because a suspension has usually resulted from their prior failure to adjudicate tickets,” the report states.
Commissioner Randall Harp asked Murad if the department would be willing to encourage the Legislature to consider changes to license suspension policies or consider adjusting officers’ responses to individuals with suspended licenses.
Murad said that officers are limited in their responses to those with suspended officers, as drivers with suspended licenses are not allowed to drive away from the stop.
Officers don’t have the ability to determine if a license was suspended because the driver was unable to pay a ticket or if the driver has a lengthy history of reckless driving, Murad said. That determination would drastically affect whether or not an officer would be able to, in good conscience, allow a driver to continue on, he said.
The data also shows that there are no disparities between black and white drivers in the percentage of searches with contraband found, with searches resulting in “hits” around 70% of the time.
“In recent years, the hit rates in Burlington show no evidence that officers imparted unfounded criminal suspicion on motorists due to racial bias,” the report states.
The total number of crashes in 2018 is slightly up, with just under 2,000 crashes. But the number of crashes with injuries resulting has declined steadily from 150 in 2012 to under 100 in 2018.
Murad said he believed a possible reason for this decrease is that Burlington officers are better prioritizing what kind of driving behavior to stop.
“I believe that a potential reason for this is that officers are prioritizing better which kinds of conduct to stop,” Murad said. “There is driving conduct that is reckless, that is significant and needs to be addressed, and there is driving conduct that is less so.”
Harp also asked Murad how the department measures drivers’ qualitative experiences, which the department listed as a disparity to reduce.
Murad said that the qualitative experiences category comes from complaints the department receives and conversations the department has with drivers who had been stopped. He said the commission has discussed complaints about officer behavior during traffic stops in executive session.
Harp said that he would like to spend more time analyzing the data and had some remaining questions, but said the initial overview was encouraging.
“There are some things that are promising at first glance as far as reducing disparities, and there are some things we still need to figure out,” Harp said.
Membership of the commission was recently shaken up, incorporating more diversity, as the department faced allegations of use of excessive force against two black men.
Recently-appointed Commissioner Jabulani Gamache said that he was particularly encouraged that the rate in which contraband was found on searches of white and black residents was equal.
“Some things could be better, but a lot of things are going in the right direction, and if we continue going in that, it would be to the benefit of everybody,” he said.
Murad said two goals of policing are safety and fairness, and the data shows positive movement on both fronts.
“The trend is toward fairness, and right now we are seeing a trend toward safety as well,” Murad said.