PROFILING

mation from their 2019 surveys.

Starting point

Studies have shown that police stop, search, arrest, use force on and kill Black people in numbers disproportionate to their representation in the population. Police say numbers alone don’t tell the whole story and that often there are sound explanations for what appears to be biased behavior. Officers may be directed to patrol aggressively in high-crime areas, where minorities live in greater concentrations, for example.

Researchers agree that aggregate numbers showing unbalanced treatment by race in a department don’t necessarily prove bias. Yet at the very least, they say, identifying which agencies seem to be targeting minority motorists is a crucial starting point.

“Changes depend on somebody shining a clear light on the patterns in a way that helps the broader public to understand the patterns and their significance,” said Charles Epp, a professor at the University of Kansas School of Public Affairs and Administration and author of “Pulled Over: How Police Stops Define Race and Citizenship.”

Texas, however, “seems almost intent on not allowing an examination of that question,” he said.

Houston’s population is less than a quarter African American. Yet more than a third of police traffic stops last year were of Black drivers.

That may seem like clear evidence of racial profiling. Yet police say, and researchers agree, that simply comparing the two percentages is not a good measure of whether a department targets minorities.

‘Veil of darkness’

Typically, more than half the drivers pulled over by police departments are out-of-towners, making comparisons with the local population meaningless. Officers also say they seldom know the race of the driver before a stop.

Studies have raised questions about their truthfulness. In May, Stanford University researchers found that the number of Black motorists stopped fell after daylight — “when