LA police search black drivers most - even though white people have more drugs, report finds

Data shows black drivers stopped at four times rate of white people: ‘These stops lead to death,’ activist says

Sam Levin in Los Angeles
@SamTLevin Email
Tue 8 Oct 2019 18.06 EDT

Los Angeles police officers stop and search black and Latino drivers at significantly higher rates than white people, even though white residents are more likely to be carrying drugs and weapons, a new report shows.

Traffic stop data from a recent 10-month period across LA revealed that black drivers and passengers were four times more likely to be searched by police than white people, and that Latinos were three times as likely to face searches, the Los Angeles Times reported on Tuesday.

In stops across the city, 24% of black drivers and passengers were searched, compared with 16% of Latinos and 5% of white people. White drivers were found with drugs or other contraband 20% of the time, a higher rate than other groups; the contraband rate was 17% for black people and 16% for Latinos.

The analysis of Los Angeles police department (LAPD) data comes the same week that an activist coalition is launching a campaign demanding an end to these kinds of stops and reparations for people who have been wrongly searched and racially profiled.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/oct/08/los-angeles-police-stop-search-black-latino