Minneapolis PD searches Black drivers at 29 times the rate of whites after minor stops

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

https://www.kare11.com/article/news/investigations/new-data-shows-mpd-searches-black-drivers-at-29-times-the-rate-of-whites-after-minor-stops/89-7d1498a6-5fe3-4a9b-b1f9-a9dc72600829

MINNEAPOLIS — New data shows that the majority of drivers pulled over this year by Minneapolis police for minor equipment violations are Black, a KARE 11 analysis has found.

Black drivers account for more than half of those stops so far in 2021 despite making up only about 20% of the city’s residents, according to city data.

Whites, who make up about 64% of the city’s population, have been pulled over in just 18% of similar stops this year.

That means Minneapolis police have stopped Black drivers for violations like expired tabs or broken tail lights at nine times the rate of white drivers.

The disparity is even more dramatic if you consider how often police searched the vehicles of Black drivers after traffic stops for equipment violations.

Records show Black drivers were involved in more than 70% of the searches overall – six times more than searches done on white drivers.

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[Ocelot II]

1. No surprise.

MPD has been a racist sewer for decades. I got stopped for expired license tabs almost every year for about a decade because I'd always forget to get them renewed, but this old white lady just got a friendly reminder every time and never even a ticket, let alone a search. I hope some of this legislation and/or local police reform will at least result in the creation of a separate subset of unarmed city employees whose job is only to deal with minor non-moving violations - broken lights, turn signals, expired tabs, etc. - and whose authority is limited to writing tickets.

[Demovictory9]

2. The nonstop mad search for drugs and evidence of criminality

Sickening

[ProfessorGAC]

3. Eliminate Stops For Any Actions...

...that aren't immediately a threat to other motorists!
Broken tail light? Dash cam, with time & date stamp. Include pic with ticket sent in mail.
Expired license? Same thing.
Rolling stop at a busy intersection stop sign? Same.
They send out tickets from cameras on red lights & for illegal toll road or highway lane usage already.
People don't need to be pulled over for this nonsense. Just document it, and ticket by mail.
This eliminates a lot of stops, reduces confrontational interactions, and reduces the day to day "threat" that so many of the cops feel daily.
They're still issuing the ticket. They're still doing their job. But, without pulling people over & hassling them about going 37 in a 30.