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Racial Profiling
Hillsboro Leads the Way in Collecting Traffic Stop Data

Hillsboro Traffic Stops
(Data Gathered October 2000 through February 2001)
Total Stops = 7,492
Latino Asian African-Amer. White Other
% total stops 25% 3% 2% 69% 1%
Warnings to Cites 1.6 1.3 1.0 1.4 .7
% Searched 11% 1% 4% 7% 1%
Something Found During Search 11%  50% 20% 16%  0%
For more than ten years, ACLU has been urging Oregon law enforcement agencies to collect data about the race and national origin of people stopped for traffic offenses. In that time there have been plenty of anecdotal reports of people of color being treated differently by police during traffic stops here in Oregon and around the country. Finally, in the past few months, a number of police agencies here have begun to voluntarily collect traffic stop data. The Hillsboro Police Department has led the way in this effort by implementing a simple cost-effective way for patrol officers to report the race, age and gender of drivers. In addition, the officers also report the reason for the stop, whether a search is conducted (and, if so, whether any criminal evidence is found) and whether a warning, a ticket or an arrest is made.

 A number of other agencies have either already started collecting similar data or will be doing so within a few months. Among them are the Oregon State Police, the Portland Police Bureau, Washington Co. Sheriff, Eugene Police Department, Gresham Police Department, and Multnomah Co. Sheriff.

In addition to the voluntary efforts already underway, Rep. Vicki Walker (D-Eugene) has introduced HB 2441 that we hope will encourage more agencies to participate in the program and provide funding to assist agencies in analyzing the results. Governor Kitzhaber has included $300,000 in his proposed budget for this purpose.

Just before press time, Hillsboro reported its data for the first six months of its data collection effort. The initial numbers donât prove or disprove the allegations of racial profiling in Hillsboro, but they do highlight some issues that Hillsboro officials will be watching closely as the program continues. The initial data shows that 25% of more than 7000 traffic stops involved Latinos, 3% involved Asian/Pacific Islanders and 2% involved African-Americans.

It is difficult to know whether the percentages of people stopped by race are disproportionate-especially with Latinos-because the demographics of the Hillsboro area have been changing dramatically over the past 10 years. Even after the 2000 census data is released next month that will only provide a ballpark estimate of motorists because no one knows the percentage of drivers who reside in Hillsboro versus those who reside in nearby communities or are passing through town.

It appears that Latinos and white drivers received just about the same ratio of warnings to citations. The initial data shows that African-American drivers were much less likely to receive warnings, but the numbers are small enough that they are not yet considered reliable. Nevertheless, Hillsboro police will be looking at this pattern very closely in the coming months. Another possible disparity relates to searches, because it appears that Latino drivers are more likely to be searched than white drivers. Again, the numbers are small enough at this stage that this trend may not hold up. We are urging the Hillsboro police department to collect additional details about searches in order to review this issue more closely.

Hillsboro Police Chief Ron Louie says the data collection by his department will continue. "I want as much sunlight and input from others as possible," Chief Louie said recently. "Some of my colleagues in law enforcement donât understand how strong the perception and reality of racial profiling is in communities of color. I feel strongly that being open about police practices is critical to help break down the barriers of distrust between the police and people of color."

More and more police officials are seeking to ensure that everyone is treated fairly and equitably by police officers÷regardless of their color or national origin. Collecting data from traffic stops alone wonât solve all the problems related to racial profiling. But it is a critical step that will allow everyone to see where patterns of disproportionate treatment exist. Then the issues can be dealt with through better training and other measures designed to guarantee everyone equal protection under the law.