A new report compiled data from all traffic stops in Connecticut concludes that minority drivers are statistically more likely to be stopped by law enforcement than white drivers.
From October 1, 2013 to September 30, 2014, there were 620,000 traffic stops in Connecticut. The report from the Institute for Municipal and Regional Policy at Central Connecticut State University broke down each of these stops into categories -- things like the basis for the stop, the outcome of the stop, and the gender, race, and ethnicity of the stopped driver.
According to the report, 13.5 percent of motorists stopped were black; 11.7 percent of all stops were for Hispanic drivers. But the telling number for Ken Barone, Research and Policy Specialist Institute for Municipal and Regional Policy is something called the Veil of Darkness analysis:
“The results of the Veil of Darkness indicate that minority stops were most likely to have occurred during daylight hours than at night. The statistical disparity provides evidence in support of the claim that certain officers in the state are engaged in racial profiling during daylight hours when motorists’ race and ethnicity is visible,” Barone said.
Five police departments -- Groton, Granby, Waterbury, and State Police Troops C and H -- were singled out for having significant racial and ethnic disparities when it comes to traffic stops, which may indicate a racial bias. Six other police departments were also mentioned in the report for exceeding the threshold for racial bias.
The authors of the report will meet with those departments in the coming weeks to provide more detailed information from the report, including data on individual officers, who may engage in racial profiling, and skew their department's racial bias numbers.
