9 Investigates

9 Investigation reveals startling numbers of who is pulled over more by police

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Channel 9 dug into years’ worth of traffic stop data to see if black drivers are being targeted for traffic stops in Charlotte. Research found black drivers are being pulled over more than any other race even though they make up only about one-third of the local population.

Every day on the streets of Charlotte, police make nearly 200 traffic stops.

Statistics show the majority of them involve black drivers.

The website Open Data Policing NC has documented 15 years' worth of traffic stop data. It shows while African Americans make up roughly 35 percent of the Charlotte population they account for 50 percent of the traffic stops and 77 percent of the vehicle searches.

“It says we’re being targeted,” said Dwayne Walker, a black pastor at Little Rock AME Zion church, in uptown.

Walker has been a critic of police interactions with the black community and said the disproportionate number of times blacks are being pulled over by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department suggests racial profiling.

“That’s where the term came from, DWB, driving while black. It has become a term because it’s reality,” Walker said.

Channel 9 wanted to interview black drivers who believe they’ve been pulled over by police because of their race, but none wanted to appear on camera, saying they feared repercussions from police if they were pulled over in the future.

But CMPD insists officers don’t profile black drivers. Police Chief Kerr Putney said there’s an explanation for the traffic stop numbers if people are willing to listen.

“It’s not a simple explanation, but there is one,“ Putney said.

He said while it’s true more black drivers are being stopped by police than white drivers, he believes that’s in large part because CMPD deploys the most officers in the areas where crime is highest.

Putney pointed out that 50 percent of the crime in Charlotte happens in predominantly black neighborhoods to black victims.

“What I can tell you is the areas that you have the highest rates of victimization, you have a greater presence of police, and they’re being more proactive, especially in corridors. And because of that you’re going to have a higher rate of contact with us,” Putney said.

A deeper dive into the traffic stop data challenges that argument.

When stopped for speeding, black drivers are 77 percent more likely to have their cars searched than white drivers. When the stop is for running a stop sign blacks are 142 percent more likely to have their vehicles searched. If a black driver has a seat belt violation, the numbers show they’re 176 percent more likely to be subjected to a vehicle search.

However, the rate at which CMPD officers find contraband is roughly the same among whites and blacks, which is 27 percent for blacks and 24 percent for white drivers.

Willie Ratchford, who heads Charlotte’s Community Relations Committee, found those numbers hard to explain.

“The bottom line is that people are being treated differently, and the data would give them the impression that race may be a factor in that,” Ratchford said.  “Whether race is a factor on a large level or a small level, that’s not acceptable. Race should not play a role in it at all.”

Both critics and police themselves agree that making the data on traffic stops public is an important step. Putney, who has spoken publicly about his own distrust of police while growing up, said if any driver believes they’ve been profiled, he and the department want the chance to make it right.

“If you feel like you’ve been stopped because of your race, let us know,“ Putney said. “We’re looking for patterns of misbehavior so we can hold our people accountable.”

“I believe the chief," Walker said. "I believe he believes what he believes. I think the numbers say otherwise."

CMPD says it has created a specific category for investigating complaints about profiling, which is calls “arbitrary profiling.”

Anyone wanting to make a complaint about alleged profiling can contact CMPD Internal Affairs.

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