Despite two decades of data showing police pull black drivers over at higher rates than white drivers, nothing has changed, a number of community leaders pushing for social change pointed out Monday. Empower Missouri, Missouri Faith Voices, the NAACP, state lawmakers and others held a Zoom meeting to respond after Missouri released its annual Vehicle Stops Report.
The Vehicle Stops Report, released Friday, showed in detail that traffic stops for black drivers remain far disproportionate from the population. Intending to address the issue of racial profiling, Missouri legislators passed a statute in 2000 requiring all peace officers to report information, including the race of drivers, to the state.
Data released Friday show that despite black people making up only about 11.8 percent of residents of the state, they represented about 19.8 percent of all drivers pulled over during traffic stops in 2019.
