Study of traffic stops is derailed

[adroitcuffs]

Study of traffic stops is derailed

Police lagging on racial data collection

By Michael Levenson, Globe Staff | September 9, 2007

An ambitious state program launched two years ago to explore the disproportionate number of minority drivers pulled over on state roads has failed to produce any comprehensive results because nearly half of the targeted police departments did not follow the recommended guidelines and the state never received or reviewed any data, according to documents obtained by the Globe.

The failure to comply with the requested data collection and the lack of any statewide analysis leave unanswered the central question that prompted African-American activists and lawmakers to originally demand the review: Is "driving while black" a real phenomenon in Massachusetts?

Full story: http://www.boston.com/news/local/art...s_is_derailed/




Just my $0.02 here... Such studies are only done to appease the PC crowd. The causual factor cannot be proved to be "DWB" without considering the other factors. Merely documenting the ethnicity of a driver who is contacted by law enforcement shows nothing of value. What if the officer works in an area where the residents / drivers are predominately non-white? And with the ever-growing population of mixed-ethnicities, how is that articulated in the data? Folks are mighty quick to pull the race card without looking at whether or not they actually violated the rules / law. It is not the answer to punish law enforcement because a violator "perceives" racism. The PC crowd needs to realize that to live in a color-blind society, the labels need to be removed.

If Governor Patrick believes that a disproportionate number of drivers are stopped merely because of race, are we then, too, to believe that he was elected only because he is black?

[Jks9199]

Hell... look at the first sentence: "a study...to explore the disproportionate number of minority drivers pulled over..."

Not "a study to see if a disproportionate number of minority drivers are stopped..." Not "a study of the racial composition of violators stopped..."

Nope. They were looking for bias. They were going to find bias. And if they didn't -- it was because people weren't working with them and recording the data properly.

Wasn't there a study a couple of years ago (I think in NJ) that they actually surpressed because it didn't find a racial bias that wasn't easily accounted for by looking at the racial makeup of the community? I think it was published as a book...

[Terminator]

We just had a Trooper fired in this state for targeting woman drunk drivers. Forty-something percent of his DWI arrests were females. I guess he should have let more female DWI's go.

[Star Man]

We just had a Trooper fired in this state for targeting woman drunk drivers. Forty-something percent of his DWI arrests were females. I guess he should have let more female DWI's go.

Better yet the males were apparently 60 percent, they should have fired him for that!

[Terminator]

Better yet the males were apparently 60 percent, they should have fired him for that!

Why would they do that, they're not a minority group.

[Jenna]

Why would they do that, they're not a minority group.

Maybe they are--there are fewer men than women in the overall population.

[Terminator]

Maybe they are--there are fewer men than women in the overall population.

You're reading my statement incorrectly. I said they're not a "minority group." Check into the EOE stuff, it says "woman and minorities are encouraged to apply."

[k-9max]

We just had a Trooper fired in this state for targeting woman drunk drivers. Forty-something percent of his DWI arrests were females. I guess he should have let more female DWI's go.

Are you serious!

[Jenna]

You're reading my statement incorrectly. I said they're not a "minority group." Check into the EOE stuff, it says "woman and minorities are encouraged to apply."

I know, I was attempting to point out the irony of men not being considered part of a minority group despite actually being in the minority in the overall population. I guess my attempt fell flat.

[Terminator]

I guess my attempt fell flat.

Much like your (insert punchline).

[Terminator]

Are you serious!

In the case of former North Carolina Trooper Scott Harrison, accused of targeting young women while patrolling the graveyard shift in Wake County, the Highway Patrol did not notice a troublesome pattern in his traffic stops. It was an attorney for a woman charged by Harrison who found the pattern during a state trial. That is what led to his dismissal with the Highway Patrol.

[Pudge]

So they were able to prove that was his purpose, or was it pure coincidence that his DUI numbers reflected that and the attorney was able to manipulate it?

[gopherpuckfan]

I pull a hell of a lot of whites over.....MUCH more than any other minority group combined. However, since most of my work day occurs after dark, I have no clue what race (and a lot of times sex) they are before I even get up to the car.

DWB is PC BS.

[Jks9199]

We just had a Trooper fired in this state for targeting woman drunk drivers. Forty-something percent of his DWI arrests were females. I guess he should have let more female DWI's go.

Isn't the population something like 50% or 55% female? Seems to me that, if anything, he's below a representative sample. I admit; I know I didn't arrest as many women as men for DUI... but some of that was only 'cause the husband/boyfriend/whatever was the one driving, and NEITHER of them needed to be behind the wheel.

I gotta wonder if that's not the rumor mill reason, and there's something else involved. Like, say, the trooper a few years back in VA who got popped because he was letting female DUIs prepay their offenses in personal services to him, if ya know what I mean...