Across the US, police conduct more than 20 million traffic stops each year. This means that 50,000 times each day, a police officer stops someone in traffic. Less than half of those stops are for speeding, DWI, stop sign or stoplight violations. Instead, minor traffic violations are used as an excuse to initiate criminal investigations. This tactic fails to find any criminal wrongdoing 98% of the time.
I disagree with the thrust of the article- claiming that police are racist. The real reason why traffic stops disproportionally affect blacks is for two reasons: most police and most traffic stops happen in large cities, which are where most blacks live, and black neighborhoods tend to be where most of the violent crime is, so that is where most police spend most of their time. That is just a fact. We all know it. Go to any city and ask any person, no matter what race they are, to tell you where the most dangerous and crime ridden area of town is, and they will point to a predominately black neighborhood.
No, the real issue with police overreach isn’t racism- it is that the police have too much power to stop and search people. Let’s agree to start there.