New data on encounters with police in D.C. revealed serious racial disparities, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. The data collected between January 2022 and December 2023 found that Black people accounted for more than 70% of the people stopped by police in the city.
“The main thing that we have found is that the number of stops conducted by the police of Black people in the District is grossly disproportionate to their representation in the population,” said ACLU of D.C. policy advocacy director Scarlett Aldebot.
According to the Census Bureau, Black people make up 43.5% of D.C.’s population. White residents make up just over 36% of the population, but, the ACLU said, that population accounted for just under 13% of people stopped by police.
“When we see this level of disproportionality that can impact trust in the police, and we’re not really seeing the benefit of these stops, we need to really ask ourselves if this practice is making us safer,” Aldebot said.
The report looked at the almost 137,000 stops reported by the police department during the two-year period.
Not all stops result in so-called stop-and-frisk searches, but those that did, according to the ACLU, did not result in many guns being taken off the streets. The report found in 2022, 0.9% of stops resulted in guns being recovered, and the result rose to 1.2% in 2023.
Aldebot said the perception of biased policing in the city also can result in situations where residents won’t report crimes or criminal activity.
The report called for an end to stop-and-frisk practices and for public safety approaches that the ACLU claims are “not biased or disproportionate, do not cause harm, adhere to constitutional requirements, and increase trust in government among the most vulnerable communities.”
In a statement to WTOP regarding the ACLU’s claims, D.C. police said that less than 7% of the nearly 69,000 police stops in 2023 were stop-and-frisks. They added that close to four out of every five stops resulted in a ticket or arrest.
“The Department is committed to fair, professional, and constitutional policing in all aspects of its work as it strives to safeguard people and property in the District of Columbia,” police said. “The Department works continuously to strengthen its service to the city.”
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