Even Though Blacks are More Likely to be Stopped New Jersey Police Deny Racial Profiling

Black drivers are more likely than whites to be stopped by police on parts of the New Jersey Turnpike, but there is no evidence it's because of racial profiling, according to a report released Thursday. The finding could stem from the fact that the chances of any vehicle being pulled over on southern segments of the Turnpike are higher, or that blacks make up a greater proportion of the motorists driving in those areas, according to the report, entitled "New Jersey State Police and Stop Data: What Do We Know, What Should We Know and What Should We Do." The 40-page report, by the Police Institute at Rutgers-Newark and the Rutgers University School of Criminal Justice, stemmed from an examination into whether data on police stops can be used to accurately gauge whether state police still engage in racial profiling. A spokesman for troopers called the report vindicating, but a civil liberties advocate said it relied on suspect data and raised more questions than it answered. In 1999, New Jersey State Police _ under criticism after a Turnpike traffic stop in which four unarmed minority men were shot at by troopers _ admitted to targeting minority motorists for traffic stops and agreed to submit to federal monitoring aimed at ending the practice. As part of a five-year consent decree entered into by the state, state police had to collect and make public records about traffic stops. Two years ago, the Police Institute was asked to analyze stop data to determine why 30 percent of the traffic stops made on the southern stretches of the Turnpike involved minority drivers, as opposed to 16 percent on other parts of the Turnpike. [more]

• While blacks make up just 6 percent of the city's population, according to 2000 U.S. Census data, they accounted for 16.5 percent of traffic stops. Hispanics, who make up just over 4 percent of the population, were the targets of 6 percent of non-cited traffic stops. [more]