Abstract - Web viewDoes Systemic Racism Play in Peoria? A Case Study of Traffic Stops by the...

Does Systemic Racism Play in Peoria?A Case Study of Traffic Stops by the Peoria

Police Department By Britta Johnson, www.brittajohnson.org

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, LAS Global Studies

Committee: Dr. Monica McDermott, Department of Sociologyand Dr. Marie Julia Bello-Bravo, African Studies Department

AbstractThe purpose of this paper is to give a general guideline of understanding systemic racism using Peoria as the central case study; specifically traffic stops by the Peoria police department. This study predicts that racial and gender profiling is present in the traffic stops and search rates by the Peoria Police Department. It also tests major counter arguments presented by critics of systemic racism studies such as geographical factors and predictability of criminal activity lacking from previous research. The data was collected through the Freedom of Information Act via the Illinois Department of Transportation. The data was originally collected by the Peoria Police Department under the Illinois Traffic Stop Data Collection Act passed in 2004. The analysis of the data collected showed that traffic stop rates have throughout time had inconsistences in regards to percent blacks being stopped compared to the black population. These inconsistences are not explained by zip code data, which shows that these inconsistences remained true across all zip codes making up the city of Peoria. In addition, black people were more likely to be searched but less likely to have contraband on their person. And furthermore, when a black person was found with drugs, it was typically less than the average amount found on white citizens. This disparity hits black males the most between 20 to 40 years of age. This paper concludes by presenting recommendations to the Peoria Police Department and the public.

IntroductionA Peoria Bradley student was walking home one night when she was mugged

at knifepoint. She described her assailant as a large black male in his 20s with baggy clothing (Buedel, 2014). A call for information on the suspect was presented in the local newspaper. The next day, the call was revoked. The student confessed that she fabricated the story for unexplained reasons (Journal Star, 2014). What sparked my interest to the article was her choice in description of her perpetrator. Why did she choose a young black male when statistics by the FBI tell us that middle-aged white males conduct most robberies (FBI, 2012)? According to an analysis conducted by 24/7 Wall St., Peoria was ranked the 6th worst city to reside in as African American (Stebbins, 2015).1 A poll by the Pew Research Center (2014) showed that people view the issue differently depending on their race, although this gap has decreased over time. The question “does systemic racism play in Peoria?” cannot be ignored by local politicians, police or citizens any longer.

I am not the only one asking this question, and other questions similar. Most Americans are aware of the protests taking place across the nation. However, the majority of Americans have little context in which to understand the racial tensions causing such unrest. Protests such as those in Ferguson, Baltimore and New York

1 Polls show a split in preference between the terms African American and black for people who identify as such. Therefore, I use the terms synonymously throughout the paper. When discussing previous research, I used the term from the referred study unless it is outdated.

2 BRITTA JOHNSONtook the nation by surprise, while others are asking what took so long. This issue is not present only in large metropolitan cities, but is pertinent across the United States. Peoria, for example, is often considered to the representative of the average American city. In fact, the phrase “will it play in Peoria” originally referred to Broadway plays being successful or not depending on how well it was received by a Peoria audience. Today, manufacturers will use Peoria as a base for their product development and testing. Does racism play in Peoria? If so, can the solution be found here as well?

The purpose of this paper is to give a general guideline of understanding systemic racism using Peoria as the central case study; specifically traffic stops by the Peoria police department. This study predicts that racial and gender profiling is present in the traffic stops and search rates by the Peoria Police Department. It also tests major counter arguments presented by critics of systemic racism studies such as geographical factors and predictability of criminal activity lacking from previous research.

This paper is organized to first give background information necessary to understand the problem at present, then it will discuss past research done on the topic and lastly go into the methods, results and analysis of the data examined to determine if systemic racism is present in traffic stops by the Peoria Police Department.

BackgroundThe purpose of this section is to briefly cover information necessary to

understand the issue of systemic racism in Peoria and its relation to traffic stops. There exists a copious amount of research on dissecting system racism and I cite several sources for further readings on the topics concisely presented here. First, I will explain important concepts, then a history of traffic stops and why Peoria is a good place to study this topic, and I conclude with a summarizing history of race relations in the United States using Peoria as the focus point.

Important Terms and DefinitionsMost people unfamiliar to the topic of systemic racism get caught up on the

plethora of vocabulary used to describe it. Misuse of the vocabulary causes further mishaps and harm rather than solutions when going about discourse. Below I have defined the most important terms to understand the rest of this paper.2

The definition of race has varied over time, which tells us how fluid it is. It originally was thought to be biological called eugenics (Goodard, 1908; Galton 1904), then cultural and now we know it to be a sociological term. Amongst the research community, race is understood as the socially constructed categorization of human beings based upon genetic pigmentation of the skin. This differs from ethnicity, which is shared cultural characteristics associated with a particular group.

Individual prejudices are personally held beliefs of race and ethnicity that are unconsciously or consciously acted upon when interacting with other people. A person of any race or ethnicity can commit individual prejudices. Whereas racism, on the other hand, is always a situation in which a member of a minority is disadvantaged due in part to their race or ethnicity. Systemic racism is a domino effect of these many situations.3

Racial profiling occurs when racial stereotypes are used as reason to investigate an individual. Paulhamus et al. (2010) breaks this definition into two parts: hard profiling (using solely race as decision for the investigation) and soft profiling (the use of race as one of several factors). Although media tends to emphasis tragic instances in which hard profiling occurred, this can be misleading 2 It is important to note that some of these definitions are contestable depending on the author. The purpose of this section is not to give concrete, unchangeable definitions but to give the reader a shared reality with the usage of the terms as they are meant to be understood in this paper.3 Systemic racism is sometimes called institutionalized or structuralized racism in research.

TRAFFIC STOPS BY THE PEORIA POLICE DEPARTMENT 3

because research finds most instances are soft profiling, thus making it harder to study, understand, and ultimately disentangle. A study by Friske (2002) shows that only 10 percent of individuals show blatant racism, whereas 80 percent of individuals show subtle biases.

The Many Manifestations of Systemic RacismSystemic racism develops as a result of several moving parts working in

tandem. It can be broken down into several systems including (but not limited to) the education system, healthcare system, housing, media, employment, and the criminal justice system. The research in each of these fields could make for a very heavy book. Therefore, I will give you the brief argument for each field, an example of research done, Peoria statistics (if available) and a list of some sources you can view if you wish to learn more.

One of the most researched manifestations of systemic racism is within the education system. An example of this would include Cribb’s (2009) study done on 4th grade teacher’s perception on African American intelligence in Peoria’s District 150. The study found “that African American gifted characteristics were viewed as less important than general characteristics of giftedness” (2009). This pattern continues into higher education. 10 percent of black citizens earn a bachelor’s degree compared to 21 percent of white citizens of Peoria (Diversitydata.org Project, 2015). Other research in this field includes punishments for equal misconducts according to race (Winn and Behizabeth, 2011; Williams, 2014; Cuellar and Markowitz, 2015), the effects of color-blindness in the classroom (Lopez, 2007; Cribb, 209), distribution of qualified teachers (Carrol et al., 2000; Clotfelter et al., 2005, Clotfelter et al., 2015) and lifetime earnings of equally educated citizens by race (Georgetown, 2011).

Housing discrimination is a harder system to track and understand compared to the education system. It takes a longer time to collect data since most data must be collected in person. Recently, however, there has been more advancement in this field by looking at census data and interest rate loans for housing (Rugh and Massey 2010; Cherian, 2014; Bieker and Yuh, 2015). The main argument is that people of color have a harder time finding and paying for housing compared to the white majority. A study by Stanford found that middle-income black families live in neighborhoods with lower incomes more than the typical low-income white families (Leonhardt, 2015). This means that white families are more likely to have accept to high-quality schools, day care options, parks, playgrounds and transportation (2015).

Advancement in the study of house loan practices by race has led to lawsuits against several banks for the unfair lending practice of redlining.4 Earlier this year, Evans Bank in New York paid nearly $1 million in settlement fees when a study showed unfair lending practices dating back to at least 2009 (Silver-Greenburg and Corkery, 2015).

Cable in 2010 created a database using the census data to map housing segregation of the United States. The first map displays Sacramento, which according to Lyubansky (2015) is the most integrated city in the United States. The second map displays Detroit, one of the most segregated cities.5 The third map is of Peoria, which displays racial housing in-between the two extremes.

Media plays a large part of in each institution involved in systemic racism. Media brings our attention to racial issues and this field of research argues that it also affects the way we understand those issues in negative or positive ways. It is furthermore a good indicator on how the population feels about race relations since media outlets generally write articles in ways that will appeal to their audience. The race and gender of our favorite heroes and hated villains in movies and books similarly affect our understanding of race and ethnicity. A study by Race Forward (2014) examined how a range of news sources such as Los Angeles Times, Fox News, 4 Redlining is the practice of denying or giving increased interest rates to African Americans5 The clear line displayed in the second map between the black and white neighborhoods in Detroit is known as the 8-mile line made famous by rappers such as Eminem.

4 BRITTA JOHNSONThe Washington Post, etc. presented racial issues. It found that most mainstream media is not systemically aware and this can vary according to topic (2014). Not having systemically aware content could explain why we often find people viewing the same reality very differently. Other studies have examined media bias in movies, newspapers and books (Littlefield, 2008; Ramasubramanian and Oliver 2007; Hancock et al., 2013; Race Forward, 2014). However, there has yet to be a study conducted in Peoria in this field.

Systemic racism in the employment system is often the most contested demonstration of racism because it involves competition amongst individuals bringing to surface conscious or unconscious practices of racism, known as the glass ceiling in some research. According to the last government publication of poverty data, the poverty rate of black citizens of Peoria was 38.9 percent compared to 6.9 percent of white citizens. This is one of the leading factors for 24/7 Wall St. to rank Peoria as 6th worst metropolitan area of African Americans. Other studies examines hiring practices of specific companies such as Peoria Caterpillar (Kozlowski, 2011), earning disparities between races with equal education (OECD, 2013; Pew Research Center, 2013) and treatment in the work environment (Brief et al., 2000).6

Study of systemic racism in health care usually focuses on the services provided to people according to race. The dominant thesis is that people of color receive less quality care compared to their white counterparts. The Institute of Medicine in 2002 surveyed 305,574 patients who were on Medicare and found inequality in the care received by patients according to race. For example, one finding was that 43.6 percent of black diabetic patients received eye exams compared to 50.4 percent of white people (2002). Other studies have measured the distribution of people lacking health insurance (Hausman et al., 2008; Shavers and Shaves, 2006) and mental health by race (National Institute of Mental Health, 2001). According to Peoria data, black women are significantly more likely than their white counterparts to have preterm births, low birth-weight deliveries and give birth as a teenager (Diversitydata.org Project, 2012). Studies on the treatment of people of color in the Peoria healthcare have yet to be conducted.

This research paper falls under the complex field of racism in the criminal justice system. The massive amount of research in this field has been so convincing that it grabbed the attention of almost every justice department in the nation. In response, the Department of Justice and the Supreme Court have taken more cases involving racial injustices than ever before in United States history. One of those cases is of the Ferguson Police Department, which is further discussed in the conclusion of this paper. Systemic racism in the criminal justice system theory is also the largest source for scrutiny by opponents to the idea of systemic racism especially with current events involving police departments making it one of the most important fields to develop further.

There are a lot of moving parts in understanding systemic racism in the justice system that tackle the issue from time of arrest to outcomes of trail to the day a person is released from their sentence. In summary, arrest rates are significantly higher for black people in almost every city in the United States. Once arrested, 80 percent of black people get a public defender which leads to only 3 to 5 percent of criminal cases even going to trial (Quigley, 2010). Once in trial it is unlikely that a black person will be on the jury because they are often stricken for reasons such as clothing, hairstyle or language or by peremptory challenges which don’t require a reason at all (Liptak, 2015; Quigley, 2010). Non-white people are more likely as a result to get maximum sentences compared to their white counterpart (2014). The Sentencing Project (2014) tracks this data and found that two-thirds of all life sentences are non-white people. The United States has five percent of the world’s total population, but has a quarter of the world’s prisoners, which is the largest of all the developed countries (ACLU, 2014). Studies have found that the incarceration rate do not reflect crime rates (Alexander, 2011). Once out of prison or jail, black people

6 View full thesis to see the maps by Cable. They were cut for this publishing due to printing space.


are less likely to find a job compared to white people who were released from prison or jail (2011). This system all starts at the ground level with police. A study by Baley (1967) found that many U.S. citizens’ only contact with police occurs during a traffic stop. Langan et al. (2001) and Lundmna (1979) suggest that traffic stops are the most common place for citizens of every race to interact with the law making it the perfect place to examine this issue in Peoria and address some of the criticisms facing the field today.7

Field of Systemic Racism Example Arguments Examples of Research Done

Education System (1) Punishments are allocated differently by race(2) Teachers devalue African American traits in terms of success

Hjerm (2001)Williams (2014)Maddon, Jussim and Eccles (1997)

Housing (1) Racial residential segregation is the cause for racial disparities in health(2) It is harder for people of color to relocate and find housing compared to whites

Williams and Collins (2001)

Media Bias (1) Media will portray no-white races negatively(2) News will broadcast crimes more often if conducted by a person of color

Race Forward (2011)

Employment (1) Equivalent resumes will not receive equivalent opportunity due to race(2) The behaviors of people of color in the work place are viewed differently in comparison to white coworkers and thus have different consequences (promotions, firing, etc.)

Pager et al (2009)Brief et al (2000)Ziegert and Hanges (2005)Harrison et al (2006)Word, Zanna and Cooper (1974)

Healthcare Races with the same healthcare and conditions will not receive the same care

Hausman et al (2008)Shavers and Shaves (2006)

Criminal Justice (1) Same crimes will be receive different punishments by race(2) People of color are suspected more than white people for criminal activity

Alexander (2011)

Figure 1. Summary of Research Done on Systemic Racism

7 Some articles will refer to racism at traffic stops as “differential stops” or “investigatory stops” to avoid confusion between hard profiling and soft profiling defined earlier (Epp et al., 2014). However, I choose to use the original term of racism at traffic stops to acknowledge that police are exhibiting bias that the community is exhibiting as well, this is not just police behavior.

6 BRITTA JOHNSON

Traffic StopsTraffic stops matter. There is no other form of government that comes close to

the portion of the population affected by the law (Epp et al., 2014). Police make approximately eighteen million traffic stops a year in the United States (2014). This means that 12 percent of citizens will encounter police in traffic stops per year (2014). Number of traffic stops in Peoria vary greatly from 2985 stops in 2012 to 16853 in 2008. This means that traffic stops give police the power actively enforce the country’s racial ideologies or actively re-create the American racial divide.

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 20130

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

14000

16000

18000

Black

White

Num

ber

of P

eopl

e St

oppe

d

Figure 2. Total Number of Traffic Stops over Time in Peoria, IL

History of Traffic Stop Data. The court case of Whren v. United States resulted in allowing for traffic stops to be used as a location to investigate crimes giving way to what is called the “pretextual stop” (Harris, 1999).8 This need was put in place as a response to the heightened “drug war” later described in the history of US race relations. The first national effort to collect data on traffic stops was in 1997 with the Traffic Stops Stats Act, but the bill died in committee. Currently, states will pass their own laws on if and how traffic stop data is to be collected. This has caused some debate across state lines on if people from other states can request data from states they are not a resident of.

Illinois passed laws against racial profiling of both pedestrians and motorists (Jones-Brown and Maule, 2010). In 2004, Illinois passed the Traffic Stop Data Collection Act that compiled a collection of traffic stop data from police departments. If a citation or written warning does not result from the stop, it does not need to be reported even if a search is conducted. In 2014, Illinois made ticket quotas illegal statewide although Peoria Police claim to never have had a quota requirement in place.9 This paved the way for researchers in Peoria and other cities in Illinois to examine the data for its intended purpose, to prevent racial profiling (Associated Press, 2014).

8 A pretextual stop is when a police officer stops a car to investigate the driver of the car for potential criminal activity. These stops often are for minor offenses such as not using a turn signal, not coming to a complete stop at a stop sign, etc. 9 This has been found to be not true. Peoria had a quota of 10 tickets per month for each patrol officer.


History of U.S. Race Relations in the Context of PeoriaAs we have seen earlier, Peoria poses an ideal location to study the concept of

systemic racism because in most all the standard fields used to measure system racism, Peoria ranks average. This connection is also present in Peoria’s history. Although there does not exist a single compressive overview of race relations in Peoria since the 1970s, through immense fact digging, one will find the rich history of Peoria that parallels much of what the nation experienced as a whole.10

The best place to start the story of Peoria race relations is with the Underground Railroad.11 Peoria served as one of the most important terminals for former slaves from Mississippi and Arkansas to stop for permanent settlement or continue to freedom in Canada (Barrett, 1973). The most cited reason for staying is the economic resources open to the black population, which may be said is true today (1973). Since Peoria was part of the Underground Railroad and served for economic support to former slaves, it was fairly common for former slaves to work along the industrial riverfront to purchase the freedom of their family members still enslaved in the south. As shown in the previous map of Peoria, black settlement along the riverside in downtown Peoria remains ordinary today even with the increase of the black population into the northern bluffs of Peoria. Due to its pivotal political importance, Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas had their infamous debate in Peoria where Lincoln officially declared his position as against slavery. On the other hand, Fredrick Douglas wrote in his autobiography about trying to find a place to stay in Peoria during this time period. At the time, Peoria hotels did not serve black citizens.

Gambling, prostitution and breweries lined the downtown area along the river (Saul, 2014). This brought wealth and power to black Peorians who often were excluded from other legally profitable means (2014). During the prohibition, for example, Peoria had the biggest whisky distillery in the world (2014). This market of vices was successful from the 1870s through the Great Depression. The temporary Taft homes where originally created for returning veterans from World War II. A lot of the veterans married, had families, moved out of the Taft homes and created legislation in local government to minimize this vice market that surrounded the homes. Part of the new legislation was to create a bridge across the Illinois River connecting Peoria and East Peoria. This bridge is known today as the I-74 Bridge. It was strategically placed to break apart the most common area known for gambling, prostitution and bars (2014). Although this helped reduce dangerous activities in Peoria, it pushed many poor black Peorians to relocate into the Taft homes since it was the only welfare housing (out of three in Peoria) that allowed black citizens in a separate section from the whites (2014).12

Peoria’s Civil Rights movement started in 1963. There were lots of involvement from local churches such as Ward Chapel and Bethel United Methodist, as well as other organizations such as the local NAACP and Colored Women’s Aid Club, which gave birth to the Carver Center. The Carver Center gave young African American students a place to have prom, socialize and learn skills.13 From local bus boycotts to downtown restaurant sit-ins, Peoria was not just viewing the Civil Rights from the television. Peoria also took bold approaches to address the concerns risen. Peoria created the “Inter-Racial House Visitation Day” that involved families from the 10 See Dr. Barrett’s “Negro in Peoria” published in 1947and updated in 197311 For information on race relations in Peoria prior to the Underground Railroad, see Dr. Barrett’s work12 The Taft housing has always been and remains a controversial topic when it comes to crime in Peoria. It is commonly believed that the Taft homes are the root of crime in Peoria and people will convey desires to remove funding. However, crime statistics show that residents of Peoria’s welfare housing is more often the victims of crime than the perpetrators (Nightingale, 2015).13 It was at the Carver Center that the famous comedian Richard Pryor grew his interest in acting

8 BRITTA JOHNSONbluffs (white neighborhoods) and downtown (black neighborhoods) getting together for tea. Although this sounds a little strange today, it was a huge advancement of the time period. Peoria District 150 also made advances to desegregate schools before desegregation became law. At first the program was successful, due in part to the active role of the Peoria Police Department. However, a government study found that District 150 re-segregated with time.

Other important racial events that I could gather from local library are displayed on the timeline below. In conclusion, throughout history Peoria has been both lacking and advanced in its race relations.


Figure 3. Timeline of Major Race Relation Eras And Events in Peoria

10 BRITTA JOHNSON

History of Police-Race RelationsThroughout race relation history, police have played an integral role. Peoria

has no history of lynching because of the active role of the Peoria Police Department. There are at least two recorded accounts of the Peoria police preventing a lynching by protecting the potential victim. Peoria police also took an active role in keeping children safe during desegregation. According the history of the Peoria Police Department, they also hired black officers before it was commonplace (Buck et al., n.d.). However, it was traditional at the time for black officers to only be allowed to patrol black neighborhoods (Buck et al., n.d.).14

The average city in the United States should have a similar history with their police departments. Subsequently, the “war on drugs” shifted police-race relations in a major way. The drug war was “declared” by Ronald Reagan and shifted the focus of the police from serving the community to protecting it from this invisible war. There has been a lot of research conducted in reviewing why the drug war was declared, how it was conducted, and its effects on today’s police-race relations (Alexander, 2011). In relation to this study, the most important take-away from the drug war is its effects on the traditional traffic stop. In 1998, the DEA created a “drug profile” which described characteristics of a person that increases their likelihood of having drugs on their person (2011). One of these factors was race.15 Although the Supreme Court had ruled that warrants based on reasonable evident were needed to enter private properties such as homes, it had ruled in 1996 that cars did not fall into the definition of private property since it is mobile. Consequently, this created traffic stops as the main “battleground” for this invisible “war.”

Literature ReviewSeveral studies have been conducted to track racism at traffic stops in a

variety of cities across the United States. Although these studies have the same thesis, they go about proving systemic racism in different ways. There has also been a variety of responses to the advancements in this research. The purpose of this section is to explain the two base theories underlying this study, then an overview of the most ground breaking research done on the topic, responses to the research, and lastly, how this study can add to the field by testing some of the counter-arguments.

Intersectionality TheoryThe first theory on which this study is based is called Intersectionality. This is

a theory that originated in the study of law with Crenshaw in (1989). She noted how black defendants would sometimes experience the discriminations of a white woman, a black man or sometimes both simultaneously and criticized the U.S. legal system for not having legal avenues to address this phenomenon. For example, a black woman must choose if she wishes to sue her company for discrimination as a women or being black, not both. In terms of this research, Intersectionality theory is the understanding that one discriminatory-factor alone does not cause an outcome alone, but rather in conjunction with other factors such as age, race, gender, ethnicity, etc.

Critical Race TheoryCritical race theory was started within the Civil Rights movement that

compliments Intersectionality theory in that it is interested in the study of the relationship between race, racism, and power (Delgado and Stefancic, 2012). The basic tenets of the theory are (1) racism is a part of everyday life, (2) our current system gives preference to white citizens and (3) racism is a product of social relations rather than biology (2012). From both theories, it is easy to tell that this 14 In the biography of Richard Pryor, Saul (2014) describes how black officers in Peoria were more harsh than white officers to black rule-breakers as a way to “keep them in line”15 This profile was not created using hard evidence, but rather stereotypes and faulty arrest statistics.


kind of research needs to be multidisciplinary. Therefore, it is important to look at research from sociology, economics, law, criminology, psychology, etc. in tandem because one paper alone cannot dissect and prove systemic racism.

“Driving While Black” ResearchWhile there have been lots of studies done on traffic stop data in several

cities, including nearby cities of Springfield and Chicago, there are few studies that changed the course of the field.16 The term “driving while black” was coined as a phrase often used in literature to depict the criminalization of blackness rather than law-breaking. The most widely discussed scholarship on this topic is the New Jersey Turnpike study.

Lamberth conducted the New Jersey Turnpike study in 2002. The study determined by field data how many drivers (by race) frequented the roadway, which race was more likely to speed and which race was more likely to be stopped. It found a major racial disparity in law enforcement causing a large controversy within the government and in the media. This study got replicated at the Baltimore on the Maryland and Delaware interstate border and found that black drivers were pulled over more even though there was no statistical difference in driving habit between races.

Some scholars believed the disparity to be even greater because not everyone owns a car. Thus, the my data is not 100 percent accurate since it is not comparing the data with the driving population, but rather the Peoria population as a whole. This has been addressed in several ways such as with surveys, driver’s license data, traffic accident data and photographic stoplights and find that disparities are even greater than previously thought.

Brunson (2000) used qualitative methods to examine racial profiling in St. Louis by conducting in-depth interviews to search for “under the surface” cultural explanations for aggressive policing. The result was 83 percent of participants reported having a personal experience with police harassment (2000). It also found that there were often negative consequences associated with questioning the legality of the officer’s actions (2000).

Skolnick also used qualitative methods to study the psychology of the police called Justice without Trial. He wrote about the developed “working personality” created by police and how this aids in his or her identification of suspects. Wilson observed that deindustrialization lead to the archetype of the criminal young black male, which escalated with President Bush’s unintentional “second” war on drugs with the Patriot Act (Balko, 2014). Alexander (2011) argues that although the Patriot Act was formed to prevent terrorism by stripping away some privacy rights of citizens within the country, it has been used more often for drug raids.

Research by Engel and Calnon brought these hypotheses into the traffic stop discussion by determining once a stop had taken place, the likelihood of an officer to request a search. The study found that race did not play a significant factor in being pulled over; it did play a role in being asked for a search.

Figure 7 breaks down further how traffic stop data has been examined in past research using different methods including some research mentioned in this section. This figure was synthesized an article written on different methods used to examine racism at traffic stops by Ridgeway & MacDonald (2010).

Name of MethodExplanation Pitfall(s) Examples of Research

External Benchmarks

The population as risk for official police contact

Due to approximations it can hide bias or exaggerate it

Zingraff, Farrell, Parker, Alpert

Observation Observers go to locations Does not account for other Albert Reiss Jr, Lamberth, 16 Although there are references in the following section support the idea that studying race is important, this study will not go into detail on the research done in the legal field and philosophical research done on studying disparities in the first place.

12 BRITTA JOHNSONBenchmarks to tally racial distribution of

drivers & law breakersenvironments other than moving violations

Fagan, Eck and Alpert

Arrest and Crime Suspect Benchmarks

Arrest rates can be used to measure bias and establishing the population

# of individuals stopped far exceeds the # arrested and police can be called to areas.

Gelman, Klinger, Ridgeway

Instrumental Variables

Creating an independent variable (such as night and day) to evaluation changes in stops according to race

A controlled scientific experiment is simply impossible in the real world

Neyman, Grogger and Ridgeway

Internal Benchmarking

Compares officer’s stop decisions with decisions made by other officers working in similar situations

1. If all officers are equally bias, no problems will show2. There may be legitimate outliers

Ridgway and MacDonald, Decker and Rojek, and Walker

Figure 4. Methods Used in Past Research and the Pitfalls (Ridgeway & MacDonald, 2010)

Main Arguments by CriticsThe NYPD police commissioner stated when criticized about racial

profiling ,“the racial/ethnic distribution of the subjects of stop and frisk reports reflect the demographics of know violent crime suspects as reported by crime victims. Similarly, the demographic of arrestees in violent crimes also correspond with the demographics of known violent suspects.” Granted drug usage rates have been shown to be equal by race according to healthcare studies, there is still a need for hit rate data.

This research is fairly new in comparison to other fields. Some other major counter-arguments include the fact that police officers are often centralized in high crime areas, which statically tend to be the neighborhoods of minority populations. One alternative geographic explanation is the “out of place doctrine” of Weitzer and Tuch, which states that perhaps officers identify a race with a particular neighborhood to be a red flag for criminal activity. All of these criticisms were tested in some form in this research, which is detailed in the next section.

MethodologyThis study examined the traffic stop data that was requested through the

Illinois Department of Transportation via the Freedom of Information Act. The collection of data came from the Peoria Police Department, which collected information during every stop that resulted in a warning or citation. Data started in 2004 to the most current completed year of 2014. The data was then converted into an Excel sheet to create the graphs used in this paper. Comparison data comes from the most recent US Census of 2010. I evaluated the estimated data by the US Census for years not surveyed and all years averaged out to the data collected in 2010.

LimitationsIt is important to take into consideration that data used in this study was

collected by the Peoria Police Department. Therefore, this study assumes that all the data is accurate. One inaccuracy I found in the data was in 2012. The data given to me by IDOT comprised of 2992 stops total, but the Peoria Police Department reported 3421 stops that year. All other years were consistent with the data given to me.

Ideally to test geographical inconsistences I would use “beat location,” or where the stop occurred. This was part of the data given to me via the Freedom of Information Act for parts of some years. However, the corresponding locations to the beat code were not given to me. The Peoria Police Department was unable to assist upon request. Therefore, I used subsequent zip code data collected from the driver’s license that may underestimate the racial disparities in stops as a result.


Data collected by the Peoria Police Department does not include stops that did not result in a warning or citation. Therefore, the results concluded in this study can be underestimates.

The population data is demographics of Peoria citizens, not of the driving population. Again, the results may be underestimates of the racial disparity since previous studies show there are, on average, fewer drivers who are black compared to the citizen population.

Data AnalysisThe purpose of this section is to give a road map to the major results found by

examining the traffic stop data for Peoria, IL.17 This study first looked at the bigger picture of traffic stops by viewing the number of stops and rates by race, gender and age from 2004 to 2014.18 Then this study explored the commonly used explanation for these trends that police officers tend to police areas of higher crime rates more vigorously and thus result in higher population of black people getting pulled over and searched. To examine this hypothesis, this study breaks down the traffic stop data by zip code. This section also examines the “out of place” theory, which is further explained later. Third, this study examines prejudices during the actual traffic stop by examining search numbers. The most common counter argument for these results is that black people are more likely to have contraband on their person and therefore should be searched most often. Thus, this study’s final examination was of the hit rates by race, gender and age.

Traffic Stop Trends over TimeFigure 8 shows the general trend of traffic stops by race throughout time. The

dotted lines represent the percentage of the population that is either black or white taken by the last major census in 2010. In a just society, the stop rates would be equal to the population percentage. The data shows that whites are stopped at a significantly lower rate than their representation of the population and blacks are pulled over at a much higher rate. It is also important to note the significant change in 2014, where stops for whites decreased to the lowest it has been since data started to be collected. However, blacks were represented the most in 2014 than any other year since 2004. Further research with more data in the future is needed to make conclusions on why this occurred.

We can break traffic stop data down even more to look at race, gender and age. Figure 9 displays the most recent stop rates in 2014, 2013 and 2012. It shows us that changes we saw throughout time in the Figure 8 has impacted the ages 20 to 29 the most. This age range tends to have the largest rate for stops for both races and both genders. However, throughout time the stops for white males has decreased, whereas the stop rate for males 20 to 29 years of age increased and surpassed the other race and genders.

17 The entire data in full can be found in the appendix of this paper18 This is all the data available through the Freedom of Information Act at this time

14 BRITTA JOHNSON

2004

2006

2008

2010

2012

2014

0.00

0.10

0.20

0.30

0.40

0.50

0.60

0.70

0.80

Stop Rate for Blacks or African AmericansPopulation of Peoria that is Black or African AmericanStop Rate for WhitesPopulation of Peoria that is White

Year

Perc

ent

Figure 5. Traffic Stops Rates by Race in Peoria, IL throughout Time

In terms of gender, females tend to be slightly pulled-over less frequently. Race shows more disparities than gender. Except for in year 2014, people who are both black and female are represented significantly less likely to be pulled-over than people who are both black and male. Also in 2012, white females between the ages 40 to 69 have the largest pullover rate. There is not a consistent pattern for gender results.

These results are not surprising and parallel similar studies of other cities in the past. The most common rebuttal to these results is that police are most abundant in high crime areas, which tend to be neighborhoods with a majority of black people. Consequently, one can reasonable conclude that more black people will be represented in the data. Therefore, this study breaks down the Peoria traffic stop data by zip code to examine this phenomenon.19

Traffic Stops by Zip codesFigure 10 is a map that breaks down Peoria into the respective zip codes. It

further breaks down each of those zip codes to display the racial make-up of each and pullover rates for each race20. Additionally, it maps out the crime rates received from the Peoria Police Department website.21 The only zip code where blacks are the largest percentage of the population is 61605. This is a high crime zip code. However, the zip codes 61603 and 61604 also have very high crime rates. Although black people are not the majority in these zip codes, they have the worst representation of blacks in the traffic data of the entire city. In fact, black people are over represented in every zip code in Peoria even zip codes with low crime.22 The worst zip code in this regard was 61614.

The “out of place” theory seeks to explain the existence of high pullover rates for blacks in low crime rate areas by accepting there is racism in the system. Nevertheless, this theory states that naturally, blacks in low black populated areas 19 Ideally this would have been collected with beat code data. However, the Peoria Police Department was unable to provide me with this information upon request.20 This reflects the population living in the zip code, not the driving population.21 The color code for the crime map from high crime rate to lowest crime rate level: Pink, Yellow, Green, and unmarked areas.22 There is an exception statistically for zip code 61528. According to the 2010 census, 61528 has one black resident and this person has yet to be caught driving while black.


will cause a police officer to raise suspicion of criminal activity. If this theory were correct, we would expect to see the same effect for whites in majority black zip codes. This is not the case. In the sole zip code where blacks do make up the majority and has the lowest white population (32 percent), whites are represented the least of all of Peoria with only 16 percent of stops.

Searches Conducted during Traffic StopsTraffic stops occur because a citizen has broken the law in some fashion.

Therefore, it is unreasonable to solely look at who gets pulled over. Some critics of this approach say it does not capture racism, but rather those who break the law the most. Searches, on the other hand, are conducted based on the police officer’s perception of potential criminal activity.

This study found that black citizens not only had a higher rate of being asked for a search, but were searched most often in just numbers alone. This study has found that blacks are searched at much higher rates than white in every year since data was available. On average, a black person is 18.5 percent likely to be searched and 5.5 percent for a white person. Figure 11 shows all of the years of data combine to show the distribution of searches conducted by race. Figure 12 further breaks down the data to show a further understanding of the issue for years 2012, 2013 and 2014. Black males between the ages of 20 to 40 overshadow any other category.23 The number of searches conducted of black males has also increased throughout time, whereas the other categories have remained similar to previous years.

23 Note this is a wider age range found than found previously in traffic stops

16 BRITTA JOHNSON

<16 16-19

20-29

30-39

40-49

50-59

60-69

70-79

80-89

>900.000

0.020

0.040

0.060

0.080

0.100

0.120

2014

White & MaleWhite & FemaleBlack & MaleBlack & Female

Age Range

Perc

enta

ge

<16 16-19

20-29

30-39

40-49

50-59

60-69

70-79

80-89

>900.000

0.020

0.040

0.060

0.080

0.100

2013


Age Range

Perc

enta

ge

<16 16-19

20-29

30-39

40-49

50-59

60-69

70-79

80-89

>900.000

0.001

0.002

0.003

0.004

0.005

0.006

2012


Age Range

Perc

enta

ge

Figure 6. Stop Rate by Age, Race and Gender in Peoria, IL


Figure 7. Peoria, IL Traffic Stops organized by Zip Code and Race in Comparison to Crime Rates (2014)24

24 This map breaks down each Peoria zip codes to display the racial make-up of each and pullover rates for each race within that zip code Additionally, it maps out the Peoria crime rates

18 BRITTA JOHNSONA common counter-argument to this finding is that black people are more

likely to have contraband on their person and therefore race would be an indicator (among several such as language, clothing, etc.) that a police officer would use to suspect a black person over a white person of having contraband. Hence, this study looked into hit rates for contraband next.

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000 8752

24

3878

387 7

Figure 8. Total Number of Searches by Race (2004 through 2013)

Rates for Finding ContrabandThe data analyzed for this study do not support the critic’s hypothesis that

blacks are more likely to have drugs on them. Figure 13 shows the number of drugs found according to race. If you combine all the searches and all the hit rates of all the years available for a more thorough examination you will find that the likelihood of finding contraband on a white citizen is 13.8 percent and 13.9 percent for a black citizen, almost equal. If you look at the years separately, most years with little exception find that it is more likely to find drugs on a white person than a black person. However, most years search less than 30 white people, the required number to make an accurate conclusion.

When you break down the data even further, you will find that in searches that resulted in finding drugs, white people tended to carry higher amounts of drugs on their person compared to black people. In fact, Figure 6 shows that white people were more likely to have 11-100 grams on their person. Whereas, in Figure 7 black people were more likely to have <2 to 10 grams on their person with 0 percent having higher than 51 grams on their person.

Summary of the Data AnalysisThe data collected showed that traffic stop rates have throughout time had

inconsistences in regards to percent blacks being stopped compared to the population. These inconsistences are not explained by zip code data, which shows that these inconsistences remained true across all zip codes making up the city of Peoria. In addition, black people were more likely to be searched but less likely to have contraband on their person. And if they were found with drugs, it was less amount than typically found on white citizens. This disparity hits black males the most between 20 to 40 years of age.


<16 16-19

20-29

30-39

40-49

50-59

60-69

70-79

80-89

>900.000

5.000

10.000

15.000

20.000

25.000

2014


Age Range

Num

ber

of S

earc

hed

Con

duct

ed

<16 16-19

20-29

30-39

40-49

50-59

60-69

70-79

80-89

>900.000

5.000

10.000

15.000

20.000

25.000

30.000

2013


Age Range

Num

ber

of S

earc

hed

Con

duct

ed

<16 16-19

20-29

30-39

40-49

50-59

60-69

70-79

80-89

>900.0001.0002.0003.0004.0005.0006.0007.0008.000

2012


Age Range

Num

ber

of S

earc

hed

Con

duct

ed

Figure 9. Number of Searches Conducted by Age, Race and Gender

20 BRITTA JOHNSON

>100 grams- 14%

51-100 grams- 29%

11-50 grams- 29%

2-10 grams- 14%

< 2 grams- 14%

Figure 10. The Amount of Drugs found in a Positive Drug Search of White People during a Traffic Stop in Peoria, IL in 2013

11-50 grams- 43%

2-10 grams- 29%

< 2 grams- 29%

Figure 11. The Amount of Drugs found in a Positive Drug Search of Black People during a Traffic Stop in Peoria, IL in 2013

DiscussionThese results imply that systemic racism is prominent in Peoria and in traffic

stops. Peoria is not immune to what is occurring nationally. However, if our history proves accurate, Peoria can also be the location for healthy change especially within the Peoria Police Department. There have been some solutions attempted in Peoria and other locations. This section will break down the results found in this study and break down solutions proposed in previous writings.

Are Police Officers Racists?No. This study found that the law is disproportionately distributed according to

race and age. This is most likely due to unconscious bias that leads to racial profiling


during stops. This distinction was further explained in the background section. This study mirrors results found in other studies. Yeagle (2014) used IDOT data to examine Springfield, IL and found that 42 percent of all stops were of minorities and this disparity is not explained by crime rate. The Department of Justice did an investigation earlier this year on the Ferguson Police Department and found that 85 percent of stops were of African Americans even though they make up 67 percent of the population. The Department of Justice (2015) also found that African Americans were 2.07 times more likely to be searched even though African Americans were statistically less likely to be found with contraband. Therefore the question arises, why these results remain consistent with almost every study? Bodenhausen in 1990 conducted a study of students to see when they used stereotypes the most when judging guilt and found that the use of stereotypes went up greatly when the student was under stress. This can also be said for police at traffic stops. Skolnick (1966) calls the phenomenon over time as the police officer’s “working personality.” Throughout copious amounts of time, this stress accumulates to a cognitive lens through which police officers see situations and events in a paramilitary fashion (1966). Often police officers come to resent research such as this on principle because researchers rarely experience the life of a police officer (1966). This argument has some weight behind it because studies have found police officers gain solidarity with each other and thus have a strong tendency to find social identity separate from the conventional world within his or her occupation that cannot be understood from outsiders (1966). Colin MacInnes wrote about being a police officer,

[W]e’re not like everyone else. Some civilians fear us and play up to us, some dislike us and keep out of our way but no one – well very few indeed—accepts us as just ordinary like then. In one sense, dear, we’re just like hostile troops occupying an enemy country. And say what you like, at times that makes us lonely.

This tells us that police officers do not join the police force because they are racist, but rather that through the specific stresses caused by the nature of a police officer’s work environment, stereotypes unconsciously held by individuals are more likely to be expressed and have the most damaging effects on society. Therefore, it is safe to assume anyone who becomes a police officer will be in a similar position and exhibit similar responses to that stress.

Social learning theory can explain racism at traffic stops even further. The social learning theory argues that stereotypes are learning through direct observation of group differences from exposure. The lack of information or connection with the community forces a police officer to rely on these stereotypes to make decisions. This causes illusory correlations between unrelated events. For example, if a police officer had the hypothesis that black people tend to use drugs more often than white people, he or she will then search more black people. The police officer will then take notice of when a black person has drugs on their person as a validation of his or her stereotype and view white people with drugs as an exception to the rule rather than race not being a factor when it comes to the likelihood of having drugs. Cognitive dissonance theory states that information contrary to this stereotype causes unpleasantness and is then avoided and refuted by police.

Solutions Proposed by Previous ResearchThere are a few solutions offered by literature. Skolnick (1966) advocated for

community programs that reverse the threat police feel by the community and allows the community to de-isolate the police officers in terms of social identification. Most officers do not live in the communities they police or have much contact with different cultures within their communities. Peoria has an interesting program in which they place officers to live in each of the Peoria districts. Details on this

22 BRITTA JOHNSONprogram, however, could not be provided upon request. Tyler and Fagan (2008) found community programs encourage working with others, but not among Whites. It also found that legitimacy of the police shaped the communities willingness to cooperate in fighting crime (2008). In terms of traffic stops this is important because if one believes they are being pulled over and searched because of their race, the more likely they are to be less supportive and resistant, which causes the police to suspect them even more because of the working profile discussed earlier (Tyler and Fagan, 2008).

White (2010) suggests using a variation of internal and external controls to prevent racially biased policing. This would include a more careful recruitment process to weed out strong prejudicial attitudes, anti-racist training at all three typical stages of the police academy, effective supervision of potential profiling, early warning system checks, and civil litigation such as open investigations, judicial reviews, transparency (2010). This solution, like the previous solution, requires the high involvement of the community and police department.

Adding the TASER and body cameras to police officers has recently been pushed as a solution in response to the major protests that happened this past year. Research still needs to continue on racial bias and police use of the TASER (White and Saunders, 2010). There are two potential problems. First is that since the TASER is usually not lethal, it will be used more often instead of other de-escalation techniques. The second potential issue is that officers may rely on the TASER and not perfect other forms of de-escalation techniques when the TASER does not work. Further research is needed to prove or disprove these predictions. Cameras also will be of no help if the officers are not properly informed of the implications of the law. This tells us that if a department wants to implement the plan of carrying TASERs and body cameras, it must be in tandem with other changes in the department. This is discussed further in the conclusion.

Basically, none of these plans is a catchall for ending racial profiling. Future research is needed to continue improving upon our justice system.

The Don’t Shoot ProgramPeoria is unique in the fact it has started a “Don’t Shoot Program” based off

the book Don’t Shoot: one man a street fellowship, and the end of violence in inner-city America by David M. Kennedy (2011). WEEK Reporter (2015) claims the program was started because the community was tired of the increased violence caused by Peoria gangs killing younger and younger children every year, even though Peoria Police Department’s own crime data does not support either of these claims. Currently, Champaign-Urbana, IL is looking into implementing a similar program. In a local Champaign-Urbana newspaper, the News Gazette, Kennedy offers an overview of the program in five key points. First, the program targets the most violent offenders. Second, it uses resources (such as jail logs, FBI databases, etc.) to have a face-to-face forum. This face-to-face forum is the third step and includes three important groups: law enforcement, social service providers and community figures. Next, they send the message “accept our help, or accept the consequences.” Lastly, it creates a “process of persuasion” to gain the help of tight-lipped neighborhoods.

This strategy is grounded on the Broken Windows theory, which when applied to police tactics, brings attention towards the removal of visible signs of social disorder (Fagan et al., 2010). Kennedy in his book argues that the Don’t Shoot Program is different than Broken Windows programs, but I would disagree due to the definition of the theory in terms of policing implications described by Fagan et al (2010, p. 309) as,

“Police tactics, resources and attention were redirected toward removal of visible signs of social disorder – ‘broken windows’ – by using police resources both for vigorous enforcement of laws on minor ‘quality of life’ offenses, while aggressively interdicting citizens in an intensive and widespread search for weapons.”


This definition corresponds to Peoria Police Department’s description of the program found on the website www.dontshootpeoria.com (2012) as follows:

“It’s an aggressive multi-strategy anti-gang and anti-gun violence program designed to decrease shootings and get the most dangerous criminals off the streets… The centerpiece of the program is a focused deterrence strategy enhanced by an innovative community-wide education and outreach program crafted to thoroughly incorporate all segments of the citizenry of the Greater Peoria area. Using offender-based policing strategies, police and prosecutors send a specific message to a number of high-risk individuals that gun violence will not be tolerated.”

Studies have shown that the efficiency of these programs decrease over time, perhaps due to the excessive strain the programs take on the department. The Don’t Shoot Program in Peoria requested a grant from the Department of Justice but it was $300,000 and therefore the program is sponsored by local businesses such as Caterpillar, Peoria Journal Star newspaper, Peoria Civic Center, Peoria Public Libraries, Peoria Public Schools, Ameren, American Water, etc. (Mosemark and Keen, 2013; www.dontshootpeoria.com, 2012).25

Some studies show that the programs do not work at all and claim that success headlines often use the decreasing crime rate as a sign that the program worked when in fact crime was decreasing before the program started. According to the Don’t Shoot program’s own data this may be the case for Peoria as well. Below is shown the crime rates in Peoria. Note, the Don’t Shoot program was started in 2012. The purpose of this research is not to evaluate the success of the Don’t Shoot program. The purpose of this section is merely to point out the important correlation between these programs and the implications it has for racial profiling.

25 This is a potential sign that the program has flaws. This is because the former Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. put forward the largest civil rights agenda in the history of the Department of Justice saying, “we will not accept criminal justice procedures that have discriminatory effects… we will not hesitate to fight institutionalized injustice where it is found (Apuzzo, 2015).

24 BRITTA JOHNSON

Figure 12. Peoria, IL Shootings thru October of each Year, chart made by the Don’t Shoot Program

Conclusion

The purpose of this final section is the break down the information presented in this paper into recommendations for the Peoria Police Department and the community to synthesize this information in a proactive way.

Recommendations for the Peoria Police DepartmentThe following is a comprehensive list of seven suggestions specifically focused

for the Peoria Police Department based off previous research, my research and with a strong emphasis from the recommendations given from the Department of Justice to the Ferguson Police Department earlier this year. I make this emphasis because this particular investigation is the most in-depth study done in the field of racial profiling and should be given proper recognition since most researchers do not have unlimited access to police data and personnel like the Department of Justice.26 Since racial profiling is an issue within systemic racism across the United States, these recommendations are valid for most police departments. I am confident, however, given the Peoria Police Department’s past record, they will be successful in implementing the following if they hold true to the procedural justice model.27

1. Implement a Robust System of True Community PolicingDuring my research, I was unable to find true community policing efforts

made by the Peoria Police Department. There have been some programs that place officers residentially in each police district and the police hold events that often are attended by family and friends of the officers. While these are good things to have in the department, I am skeptical of their impact on the most vulnerable to crime 26 The Department of Justice is currently conducting more than 5 in-depth investigations similar to the one conducted in Ferguson. I would recommend police departments read and take into consideration the recommendations at the end of each report when they are released, even though they are not addressed to their department specifically.27 The procedural justice model of policing, as explained by Tyler and Fagan, 2008) argues that police can build general legitimacy among the public by treating people justly during personal encounters.


community members. Past research and the FPD investigation suggest creating a more community based police department by increasing opportunities for officers to have frequent and positive interactions with people outside of any enforcement contact, purposely populations who have negative ideas of police officers. Avoiding patrol shifts longer than 8 hours has shown to reduce stress and in affect, decrease unconscious racial profiling. I would also recommend not assigning geographic areas, or districts, so small that cause patrol officers to patrol the same street 5-10 times a shift while on the other hand not patrolling other streets in bigger districts for days.

Every study conducted has suggested train, train and train again. This is perhaps the most important and essential thing any police department should do and can do so on any budget. This should be reoccurring (not just 3 hours at the academy) and frequent (not just once a year). Psychology research has taught us that untangling unconscious racial stereotypes is a skill that needs work in each individual. The Department of Justice suggested including crime prevention, officer safety and anti-discrimination advantages of community policing to be included in the training. It is important that officers know what community policing is in action, and their role in implementing it successful and not just a single event for the newspapers.

This also helps police officers reduce their stress and anxiety caused by the nature of the job requirements and environment. It can help reduce the gut reactions of criminality based on stereotypes and reduce the risk of officers over reacting in situations. The Department of Justice recommends measure and evaluating individual performance using community engagements, problem-oriented-policing projects and crime prevention rather than productivity (such as book-based exams).

2. Focus the Purpose of Traffic Stops on Public SafetyPeoria police officers should give great care to when deciding to take

enforcement action. The duty of the police is to promote public safety. Therefore, enforcement action is required when it promotes public safety, not simply because they have the legal authority to do so. Therefore, I firmly suggest removing any form of evaluating the number of tickets each officer has given. Specifically eliminating the ten tickets a month benchmark for Peoria police officers even if it is not enforced strictly speaking. Numerous studies based on the realistic conflict theory find that quota systems increase racial profiling (Department of Justice, 2015; Sherif, 1961). This evidence was what noted pro-quota governor Quinn to sign a bill making quotas illegal in Illinois in 2014 (Washington Post, 2014). The Police Chief at the time, Settingsgaard, said without the quota, he was afraid Peoria officers would slack on enforcement (2014). The Department of Justice would disagree, noting this was a contributing problem to racial profiling conflicts in the Ferguson police department and found setting fixed traffic stop goals for revenue, even as one of many reasons, strictly illegal.

The Department of Justice suggested to Ferguson requiring supervisory approval prior to issuing more than 2 citations, making an arrest due to failure to comply, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace, and/or obstruction of government operations. I suggest this because supervisors should have more in-depth knowledge on the applications of the law naturally by their gained positions and can help guide officers in learning the proper use of the law instead of reinforcing misinterpretations. This also helps take pressures off individual police officers and onto the department since officers may hesitate to act due to unfamiliarity to the law and fear of being punished for mistaken misconduct. This, however, does not mean that police officers do not need training. Like suggested within the first point, this training should be initial at the academy and regularly recurring to help Peoria police officers refine the skill of policing without bias. More information on training can be found in point five.

26 BRITTA JOHNSON3. Continuously Collect and Analyze Police DataOnce the quota system has been removed, it should be required of officers to

report all stops, even if the interaction does not result in a citation but especially if the stop resulted in a search. Data of any kind should be coupled with a more robust geographic location system such as a corresponding map for beat locations. If possible, this data should be evaluated anonymous of the officer. This allows for further data collection to track the improvements of the department as a whole in response to the changes and not intended to punish individual officers. Checks for individual bias will be discussed in another point.

It is important to develop a system that regularly reviews this data to ensure consistency with public safety goals. This analysis should look at several indicators such as race, gender and age to detect problematic trends in the department such as this research sought to do. If a problem is detected, it should be followed by a comprehensive plan to decrease the issue during a concrete amount of time centered on the promotion of public safety of all individuals of Peoria. Ideally, this plan would include community members outside of the police department (see point one).

4. Reevaluate the Don’t Shoot Program/ Strict-on-Crime ProgramsStrict-on-crime or “Broken Windows” programs can work in theory, but often

times do not work in application due to critical errors in design. I would recommend stripping the program of intimidation tactics and promote community resources and involvement that tackle the issues causing people to want to join gangs in the first place. Further research specialized in this field would be needed to make these transitions successful. Where these fields overlap in solutions is noted in point one on community policing.

5. Initial and Regularly Recurring TrainingTraining is the most important thing any police department can do to become

more efficient and successful. This research, previous research, and the Department of Justice supports the unfortunate reality that training is lax when it comes to racial profiling. Racial profiling cannot be fix by simply putting cameras on officers and TASERs on their belts. TASERs alone can cause for further racial profiling because officers will used TASERs when unnecessary for convenience and do not practice other de-escalation techniques leaving them vulnerable. Cameras alone can cause officers to second-guess themselves in fear of accidental misconduct due to improper training. However, these two things combine with other incentives can be a tool for decreasing racial profiling in police departments.

This training should require officers to continuously perfect their de-escalation techniques and consider TASERs as a last resort especially in schools. In tandem with point one, it is important to eliminate avoidable disparities in the use of force by helping officers not to interpret low tense situations as high tense and life threatening. Although a few officers may know what racial profiling as a rough concept, it is important for officers to have initial and recurring training that include how stereotypes and implicit bias affect police work from specialists who study the concept professionally. This will help police officers understand, navigate and ask questions about the importance of procedural justice, police legitimacy, the negative impacts of profiling and how it does not jeopardize officer safety, but actually improves safety. This step could also be most effective if it involved community members, especially members who have distrust for the police.

Supervisors should be trained on how to detect bias profiling such as “early intervention systems” and proper ways of responding to misconduct by assigning officers with additional attention, training and/or equipment to improve their effectiveness. This is discussed in further detail in point 6.

Including community members in this training is most important; especially populations who have high levels of distrust The Peoria Police Department. Incorporating civilian input into all aspects of policing including policy development,


training, use of force reviews, and investigation of misconduct complaints is pressed in most studies.

6. Develop Mechanisms to More Effectively Respond to Allegations of Officer MisconductThis recommendation requires complaints to be filed and investigated by

supervisors. This investigation should not include any person involved in the misconduct in any way. The system should be fair and consistent in its discipline for the misconduct of officers and these guidelines should be clearly disseminated to the officers for continuous reference.

In terms of racial profiling, this would mean putting in place a system of checks that is objective to find bias and train supervisors on the appropriate response to officers found to hold bias either by more training or equipment such as TASER or body camera.

7. Compressive Hiring Practices that Test for Strong Implicit BiasAs it currently stands, the Peoria Police Department does not have checks in

place to look for racial bias during the entry examinations. I would suggest using a check such as the Harvard Implicit Bias test to check for any extreme biases. I do not suggest rejecting a person based on the test results, especially if they test well in other areas. If this is the case, I would recommend training the individual and retesting them to see if their biases can be changed with the proper exposure to training.

Recommendations for the PublicThis research has shown that it is very important for data collection to be

comprehensive, complete and wide in span. The national bill for data collection has been unsuccessful in the past, but with the renewed public knowledge on systemic racism, there is a strong chance it can be revived. People can also push for departments to collect data without a mandated law. This helps researchers, individuals and departments to track and check the progress of systems to becoming unbiased. Currently, Illinois requires departments to collect data on stops that result in a ticket but this can be extended to track even more information necessary for a full review.

Support changes in the police department in response to research and get involved in the process. The only interaction people have with the police should not be at traffic stops. Do not accept increase in traffic stops and arrest rates as proof of stricter policing. The end goal is a safer community for everyone and this takes everyone to do.

Most importantly, learn about how systemic racism takes place in your everyday life whilst appreciating the work done by our local officers. According to Martin Luther King Jr., the biggest threat to justice is the silent majority. Eliminating systemic racism requires community involvement and can increase officer safety. Letting our minority populations know that we support them, does not mean we do not support our police. It is important to make that message very clear. It takes a community to recognize the problem and a community to fix the problem. I merely suggest that the Peoria Police Department can be a vessel for that change.

For list of references and list of raw data, see full publication version.

Abstract - Web viewDoes Systemic Racism Play in Peoria? A Case Study of Traffic Stops by the...

Documents

Transcript of Abstract - Web viewDoes Systemic Racism Play in Peoria? A Case Study of Traffic Stops by the...