Racial profiling is so rampant in many U.S. cities that minority drivers joke about being pulled over by police for a DWB (Driving While Black). It might be time to add Eugene to the list. According to a 2002-3 study by the Eugene Police Department, black drivers were pulled over at a more frequent rate than white drivers and black and Latino drivers were more likely to be searched and arrested than white drivers.
The fact that minority residents are stopped, searched and arrested at a greater rate than white residents comes as no great shock to communities of color. Anecdotal evidence has been mounting for years. This study was an attempt to collect the empirical data necessary to spark real reform. Unfortunately, the methodology of the study contains too much uncertainty and is not nearly broad enough to determine whether racial profiling is, in fact, a problem in Eugene.
First, the study was based on incomplete data: Survey cards were filled out by officers in only 70 percent of vehicle stops. Many of the cards that were filled out were incomplete. Furthermore, the data collected covered only a two-year period, not long enough to determine a trend.
Second, it is impossible to verify the accuracy of the collected data. The officers who may or may not be committing racial profiling are the ones filling out the cards. It would be simple for an officer to cover his or her tracks, since everything on the card is based on the officer’s perception of race. Furthermore, since the data is not organized by the name of the officer involved, at least not the data provided to the public, it is impossible to know if there are one or two bad seeds in the department skewing the data.
Third, any legitimate study of racial
profiling cannot be limited to traffic stops alone, but must also include interactions
on the street. Much of the harassment, intimidation and brutality that communities of
color in other cities experience from the police occurs outside of the vehicle and is not
documented. Cases like Cortez Jordan’s
(ODE: “Study prompts racial profiling
concerns in EPD,” Nov. 5) need to be incorporated into any further study of the racial
profiling issue.
The Emerald commends the EPD for
this first small step. The results, as inconclusive as they are, at least prove that further study is needed. Why are black and Latino residents more likely to be stopped for longer periods of time than white residents? Why do a greater rate of stops for black and Latino residents occur in patrol district five? Why are black and Latino residents disproportionately searched when the data shows that they are no more or less likely to have contraband than white residents?
We hope the police department works quickly and efficiently to begin to provide answers to these pressing questions.

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