Texas State patrol searches minority drivers more frequently than whites

Last year in Texas, black and Hispanic drivers were searched more than one and a half times more often than white drivers after a traffic stop, according to statistics from the Texas Criminal Justice Reform Coalition. The group joined the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People of Texas to compile a report on state law-enforcement's racial profiling data. In cases where tickets were given, blacks were searched one and a half times more often than whites, but Hispanics were searched more than twice as often as whites. Although statistics suggest that the Texas Department of Public Safety patrol officers are targeting minorities for searches, the DPS says that it does no such thing. [more ]