Black drivers in Florida receive double the number of seatbelt tickets – study

[umbertino]

ACLU says racial disparity in enforcing mandatory seatbelt law is very alarming after 2015 saw several high-profile traffic stops escalate into fatal encounters

 

 

Lauren Gambino in New York

 

Wednesday 27 January 2016 15.21 GMT

 

 

 

Black drivers in Florida are stopped and ticketed for not wearing a seatbelt significantly more often than their white counterparts, raising “serious concern” that law enforcement may be racially profiling motorists, according to a study released by the American Civil Liberties Union on Wednesday.

 

Using data collected under Florida’s seatbelt law, the authors found that in 2014 black motorists were ticketed nearly twice as often statewide and up to four times as often in certain counties.

 

“This report brings forth new evidence suggesting that racial profiling in traffic enforcement is real,” said Nusrat Choudhury, an attorney with the ACLU’s Racial Justice Program and co-author of the report, Racial Disparities in Florida Safety Belt Law Enforcement.

 

“It points the finger at the potential impact of implicit bias by officers who are stopping and ticketing motorists and offers a novel and important contribution to the national debate on racial profiling.”

 

In 2015, routine traffic stops were precursors to a number of high-profile police killings, including Sam Dubose, an unarmed black man who was shot and killed by a white University of Cincinnati police officer in July after being pulled over for a missing license plate, and Walter Scott, an unarmed black man who was killed by a North Charleston police officer after being pulled over for a broken brake light. The deaths reignited a debate about the persistence of racial disparities in traffic stops.

 

“2015, more than any other year, showed that traffic stops can escalate tragically in ways that harm the people who are subjected to those encounters,” Choudhury said.

 

 

The report notes that black drivers wear seatbelts slightly less often than white drivers, according to statewide and national studies. Even so, the difference is not large enough to account for the disparity, the report found.

 

In an effort to better inform the debate around racial profiling, Florida in 2005 began requiring law enforcement agencies to record and annually report the race and ethnicity of drivers who violated the state’s mandatory seatbelt law. But despite reporting requirements, the report found that many law enforcement agencies failed to collect and report seatbelt citation data annually, including the city of Miami police department and the city of Tampa police department.

 

Still, the data provided a revealing snapshot of the racial disparities that exist across one traffic violation in one state.

 

“We are certainly very concerned that this is not just happening in seatbelt enforcement in Florida but in the enforcement of all low-level traffic offenses in Florida and in other states around the country,” Choudhury said.

 

Over time, targeting a community disproportionately can cause lasting social and economic harm, Choudhury added. She said the financial cost of a citation, which can be as high as $60, can be particularly consequential for communities of color because of the huge wealth gap between white households and black households. Under the law, failing to pay a fine can result in a suspended driver’s license.

 

It also disproportionately increases the risk that a police-civilian encounter could escalate and, in some cases, turn violent or fatal, the report noted.

 

The ACLU has recommended that the Florida attorney general’s office of civil rights and local commissions charged with oversight responsibility investigate the agencies that met or exceeded the already large statewide racial disparity, among them: Escambia County sheriff’s office, which in 2011 ticketed black motorists at four times the rate it ticketed white motorists; Palm Beach County sheriff’s office, which in 2014 ticketed black motorists at three times the rate it ticketed white motorists; and Orange County sheriff’s office, which in 2014 ticketed black motorists at nearly three times the rate it ticketed white motorists.

 

It also called on the Florida state legislature to adopt a law that would penalize law enforcement agencies that fail to comply with the reporting requirements. And finally the report’s authors recommended that law enforcement agencies analyze the data they collect about traffic and pedestrian stops to identify and address racial disparities.

 

 

The rate at which black drivers were ticketed over Florida’s mandatory seatbelt law was as high as four times as often as white drivers in some counties.

Photograph: Alamy

 

 

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jan/27/seatbelt-ticketing-florida-law-enforcement-black-drivers

 

[pattyangel]

Oh my gosh!!! what else is the ACLU going to attack regarding the law officers.  What?! they gave you a black pen to sign the ticket or warning with  ...what's next????   Wear your seatbelts!!! you get caught you pay a price.   

I'm sure the author of this article piece of @#$& is leaving a lot of stats out.   This is becoming comical umbertino.      Such whinny babies who needs constant pacifying.  

 

I know, I know, don't shoot the messenger, just reporting information, you thought it might be helpful in not swaying the people against our officers.   Your intent is obvious, can't hide behind articles as such, we see right through you my friend.  Like I said this is becoming comical on your end. 

 

All in all you have a wonderful evening  

[dog53]

Well gee lets see if there is twice as many blacks not buckling up then twice as many tickets would be handed out to black people.

 

UREEKA!!!!!!

I HAVE SOLVED IT !!!!

 

 

 

Pretty lame post umbert.

[Shelley]

I call BS on this article ....I'm white live in Florida and was ticketed because I had no seat belt on !!!! The author of this article is just trying to stir up trouble !!!

[George Hayduke]

Well gee lets see if there is twice as many blacks not buckling up then twice as many tickets would be handed out to black people.

 

UREEKA!!!!!!

I HAVE SOLVED IT !!!!

 

 

 

Pretty lame post umbert.

 

Hot Damn boy, you are one frickin genius.  Dju think that kind of logic plies to other violations of the Law too?  Hmmm... dats sumpin to ponder.  Run for prezidint - you gotz my vote