Based on an IDC showing the traffic data for Officer Josiah Thompson, I scheduled a meeting with him. The meeting occurred on 04/04/2017 and we discussed, and evaluated, the results of the vehicle stop statistics.
During our conversation, I explained to Officer Thompson the purpose of the meeting, and read the relevant parts of the racial profiling statute to him. I explained the statute's requirements and its intended purpose. We discussed the reason why his vehicle stop statistics do not meet the criteria set forth by the Missouri Attorney General's Office.
Officer Thompson explained that he had just begun his law enforcement career and had only been working as a police officer since June 2nd, 2016 (he was a probationary officer for 12 weeks prior to that). After being placed on Squad 14 (Zone 2), he was assigned to beat 23 and remained in that beat for the remainder of the year. He explained that he does not profile drivers based on race, and only uses race as a factor when conducting an investigative stop based on suspect descriptors.
I reviewed Officer Thompson's Internal Affairs Demeanor Report and Personnel File, and found nothing that would indicate a pattern or propensity to conduct enforcement activities base on race. He did not have any Class I or II complaints, and had no miscellaneous complaints or investigations regarding racial profiling or any other racial issues. There was no previous data for comparison. The black population in Springfield, Missouri, is about 4.1% (2010 Census Data), and the black population in beat 23 is estimated at 4.4%. As will be discussed below, Officer Thompson's vehicle stop data shows that 17.9% of his stops were of vehicles being driven by black drivers. Upon reviewing the data provided for Officer Thompson, he indicated he was only able to identify the race of the driver in 2 of his 190 vehicle stops. …show more content…
Both of those were white drivers. Officer Thompson works on a 3rd shift squad (2130 to 0730 hours), which makes this assertion plausible, since it's dark during the hours that he works. Of the stops, 34 were black drivers (17.9%), 151 were white (79.5%), 1 was Asian (.53%), 3 were Hispanic (1.6%) and 1 "other" (.53%). Also of the 190 stops, 29 resulted in citations being issued; 7 of those were to black drivers (20.6%), 21 to white drivers (13.9%), and 1 to the other categories (20.0%). In addition, he issued 164 warnings, no action, or other action to the drivers during these contacts. Of those, 27 was issued to black drivers (79.4%), 133 to white (88.1%), and 4 to all others (80.0%). Officer Thompson conducted 17 searches during his 190 stops. Of those, 6 were of black drivers (17.6%), 10 of white drivers (6.6%), and 1 for the other categories (20.0%). Of the searches of black drivers, 3 were consent, 2 were drug/alcohol odor, 1 was incident to arrest, and 1 was reasonable suspicion (Terry Frisk). Of the white driver searches, 4 were consent, 5 were incident to arrest, and 1 was for probably cause. The lone search he conducted other than with black or white drivers was a Hispanic driver. That search was conducted due to the odor of drugs/alcohol. He arrested 2 black drivers at the conclusion of his stops and 7 white drivers. No one was arrested from the remaining categories. Following my evaluation and discussion with Officer Thompson, I
During our conversation, I explained to Officer Thompson the purpose of the meeting, and read the relevant parts of the racial profiling statute to him. I explained the statute's requirements and its intended purpose. We discussed the reason why his vehicle stop statistics do not meet the criteria set forth by the Missouri Attorney General's Office.
Officer Thompson explained that he had just begun his law enforcement career and had only been working as a police officer since June 2nd, 2016 (he was a probationary officer for 12 weeks prior to that). After being placed on Squad 14 (Zone 2), he was assigned to beat 23 and remained in that beat for the remainder of the year. He explained that he does not profile drivers based on race, and only uses race as a factor when conducting an investigative stop based on suspect descriptors.
I reviewed Officer Thompson's Internal Affairs Demeanor Report and Personnel File, and found nothing that would indicate a pattern or propensity to conduct enforcement activities base on race. He did not have any Class I or II complaints, and had no miscellaneous complaints or investigations regarding racial profiling or any other racial issues. There was no previous data for comparison. The black population in Springfield, Missouri, is about 4.1% (2010 Census Data), and the black population in beat 23 is estimated at 4.4%. As will be discussed below, Officer Thompson's vehicle stop data shows that 17.9% of his stops were of vehicles being driven by black drivers. Upon reviewing the data provided for Officer Thompson, he indicated he was only able to identify the race of the driver in 2 of his 190 vehicle stops. …show more content…
Both of those were white drivers. Officer Thompson works on a 3rd shift squad (2130 to 0730 hours), which makes this assertion plausible, since it's dark during the hours that he works. Of the stops, 34 were black drivers (17.9%), 151 were white (79.5%), 1 was Asian (.53%), 3 were Hispanic (1.6%) and 1 "other" (.53%). Also of the 190 stops, 29 resulted in citations being issued; 7 of those were to black drivers (20.6%), 21 to white drivers (13.9%), and 1 to the other categories (20.0%). In addition, he issued 164 warnings, no action, or other action to the drivers during these contacts. Of those, 27 was issued to black drivers (79.4%), 133 to white (88.1%), and 4 to all others (80.0%). Officer Thompson conducted 17 searches during his 190 stops. Of those, 6 were of black drivers (17.6%), 10 of white drivers (6.6%), and 1 for the other categories (20.0%). Of the searches of black drivers, 3 were consent, 2 were drug/alcohol odor, 1 was incident to arrest, and 1 was reasonable suspicion (Terry Frisk). Of the white driver searches, 4 were consent, 5 were incident to arrest, and 1 was for probably cause. The lone search he conducted other than with black or white drivers was a Hispanic driver. That search was conducted due to the odor of drugs/alcohol. He arrested 2 black drivers at the conclusion of his stops and 7 white drivers. No one was arrested from the remaining categories. Following my evaluation and discussion with Officer Thompson, I