WATERBURY, Vt. (AP) - The Vermont State Police’s annual traffic-stop data released on Wednesday shows that racial disparities still exist in who is searched and ticketed, state police said.
Last year, white drivers made up 93% of the total stops, compared to Black operators at 2%, Asian operators at 2% and Hispanic operators at 1%.
Of those stopped, 37% received a ticket rather than a warning. Tickets went to 36% of the white drivers stopped, 42% of Black drivers, 49% of Asian operators, 45% of Hispanic drivers and 36% of Native American drivers, according to the data.
In terms of searches, state police searched a total of 137 drivers in 2019, including 106 white drivers, 14 Black drivers, 3 Asian operators and 14 Hispanic operators, according to the numbers. Police said they found contraband on 76% of White drivers, 71% of Black drivers, 0% of Asian drivers, and 85% of Hispanic operators.
“These numbers show we still have work to do,” said Vermont State Police Director Col. Matthew T. Birmingham in a written statement. The agency’s efforts to address racial disparities over the last 10 years has been significant but not enough to get rid of them, he said.
Dr. Etan Nasreddin-Longo, co-chair of the Vermont State Police Fair and Impartial Policing Committee, said they were “long-standing problems” that continue to be addressed in trainings.
“The answers as to why these disparities continue to bedevil the agency’s efforts are not easy to come by,” Nasreddin-Longo said in a written statement.
Vermont State Police is working with community partners and the Fair and Impartial Policing Committee to look into the numbers, figure out what’s behind them and redouble its efforts “to eliminate racial disparities, which have no place in policing,” Birmingham said.
State police made 57,971 discretionary traffic stops in 2019, up from 57,840 in 2018, according to the data. The majority of the stops and searches took place on interstate highways and involved vehicles with out-of-state license plates, state police said.
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