Published: February 24, 2008 12:33 am      

Racial profiling state problem?

Study shows black drivers 1 1/2 times more likely to be stopped than whites

FAIRMONT — An ongoing study of whether racial profiling by police is a problem in West Virginia shows that black drivers across the state last year were 1 1/2 times more likely to be stopped than whites.

Black drivers statewide were also twice as likely as white drivers to have their cars searched in those same traffic stops, the just-released report states.

The figures come from a statistical analysis of reports over a six-month period from nearly all law enforcement agencies in the state.

The Statistical Analysis Center of the state Division of Criminal Justice Services is doing the study in response to a 2006 law, said Stephen M. Haas, director of the center.

It’s unclear, however, whether bias by police is responsible for the disparity between black and other minority drivers and white drivers, he said.

“We don’t know what motivated or caused the stops and searches,” he said. There may be legitimate police practices that create the disparities between minority and white drivers, he said.

The study’s disparity is an indicator, not evidence of police bias, Haas said.

“These findings may represent starting points for communities and their local police agencies to discuss what the numbers mean, how they should be interpreted,” he said.

The study will continue this year, with a final report expected in 2009.

State lawmakers approved the racial profiling study in 2006, requiring every law enforcement agency to take part. The study began last year. Small police agencies that made 50 or fewer stops are included in the report, but their results are not part of the analysis, however.

Researchers studied six months worth of traffic stops, from April 1 through Sept. 30.

They looked at the driver’s race and whether a citation or arrest followed the stop. They also checked the traffic stop reports — recorded on the new Motor Vehicle Stop Form (MVSF) — for whether contraband was found in a vehicle or personal search. The state Division of Motor Vehicles made up the new reporting form.

The 2000 Census, adjusted for vehicle ownership, was the benchmark against which the statewide findings were compared.

The raw numbers show a total of 106,225 traffic stops of vehicles registered in the state. The stops were reported by about 200 state, county, city and town police agencies.

The number of white drivers that were pulled over was 99,924, or 94 percent of the total.

Black drivers numbered 4,355, or 4.1 percent of the total. Asian, Native American, Hispanic and Middle Eastern drivers made up the remaining 2 percent.

Drivers were nearly equally likely to get a warning (48.5 percent) as to be cited or arrested (48.1 percent).

Searches were done in only 4.3 percent of the stops. In more than half of the searches (53 percent), no contraband was found.

Nearly 64 percent of the drivers were male. Drivers ranged in age from 10 to 97. The average age was 35.6, while the most frequent age was 20. Drivers between the ages of 25 and 39 accounted for the greatest proportion of all drivers at 37.5 percent. Those aged 40 to 59 were next, accounting for 29.3 percent of the stops.

Only 6.4 percent of the stops involved drivers age 60 and older.

Nearly 45 percent of the stops were for speeding. Other moving violations accounted for 12.5 percent while 33.8 were for other “non-moving violations.”

More stops occurred between 4-11 p.m. with the greatest number (6.9 percent) occurring during the 9 p.m. hour.

Police departments in seven cities and their surrounding counties were looked at in-depth.

Researchers call the close-up look a “sub-area analysis.”

Also known as a patrol area analysis, this part of the study deals with the specific geographic location of a traffic stop.

The cities and counties in this special study are: Morgantown and Monongalia County, Wheeling and Ohio County, Martinsburg and Berkeley County, Charleston and Kanawha County, Huntington and Cabell County, Parkersburg and Wood County, and Beckley and Raleigh County.

The study is available online at this address: www.wvdcjs.com.

E-mail Bill Byrd at bbyrd@timeswv.com