A trial lawyers task force has studied a decade's worth of law enforcement traffic stops in North Carolina and found that blacks and Hispanics are "systematically searched at much higher rates than whites."
The N.C. Advocates for Justice, formerly the N.C. Academy of Trial Lawyers, analyzed almost 13.5 million traffic stop records covering a period from 2000 to mid-2011.
In a report this spring, the authors called their findings "deeply disturbing and may be indicative of a problem." They have called for the creation of a broad-based state commission to study the causes of the racial disparities at traffic stops and make recommendations.
The comprehensive report is a first of its kind in North Carolina, but not many state officials are aware of it.
The report was sent to only a half dozen of the state's top leaders, including Gov. Bev Perdue and state Attorney General Roy Cooper. No legislators from Cumberland County were aware of the report's existence until a reporter contacted them this week.
The Fayetteville Observer obtained a copy of the report's summary and analysis from a source at the N.C. General Assembly on the condition of anonymity.
Among other findings, the report said blacks and Hispanics are "almost twice as likely to be searched and twice as likely to be arrested" as white drivers.
State Rep. Marvin Lucas, a Democrat from Spring Lake, expressed concern about the disparities.
"That sounds like something we ought to address," Lucas said.
The statewide findings are similar to the racial disparities in Fayetteville, where recent statistics showed almost three of every four people searched by police at traffic stops were black. The Fayetteville City Council has responded to the controversy over the past year with police policy changes, the introduction of written consent forms and the installation of about 200 camera systems in patrol cars. The former city manager was asked to resign in March because of his handling of the issue.
Dick Taylor, the chief executive officer of the N.C. Advocates for Justice, said the task force was formed in response to a call by the American Bar Association that each state explore the role of racial bias in the criminal justice system.
Taylor said members of his organization did not feel they should lead such a statewide examination of the issue, but they wanted to at least examine public traffic-stop records that most law enforcement agencies are required to submit to the state.
"We thought it might be a good way to demonstrate the need for North Carolina to have just a broad-based study," Taylor said Thursday.
Taylor said his group has reached out to top state leaders with the results of the analysis, urging action.
Noelle Talley, a spokeswoman for the N.C. Department of Justice, said Cooper and his staff had a productive meeting about the report on March 29 in his office with members of the N.C. Advocates for Justice.
"We agreed as a group that these issues deserve deeper examination and said the DOJ would participate," Talley said in an email Thursday. "We urged continued collaboration with state leaders and legislators and inclusion of more stakeholders."
Those stakeholders would include members of law enforcement, prosecutors and judges, she said.
Spokesmen for the General Assembly's two leaders -- House Speaker Thom Tillis and Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger -- could not be reached for comment.
According to the task force's report, Cabarrus, Onslow, Mecklenburg and Orange counties were among those "where disparities are significantly above statewide averages" for blacks. Cumberland and Forsyth were among six counties that had the "lowest levels" of disparities for Hispanics.
Reporting requirement
In 2000, the state began requiring the State Highway Patrol to report traffic-stop data in response to complaints of racial profiling. The law eventually was applied to many other law enforcement agencies around the state, including Fayetteville and Hope Mills police and the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office. Police departments in cities with fewer than 10,000 people are not required to report the data.
One state senator, Thom Goolsby, a Republican from Wilmington, filed Senate Bill 923 on May 30 that seeks to repeal the traffic-data reporting requirements. No one else has sponsored the bill, which has been assigned to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Goolsby did not return a message Thursday to comment about this bill.
Troy Williams, a former Cumberland County sheriff's deputy, first raised the issue of Fayetteville's racial disparities in traffic stops in a guest column published in the Observer in October 2010. He said the task force's report shows "a system of biased-based policing statewide."
"It's certainly not something that just happens in Fayetteville," Williams said. "But I give them credit for the policy changes they've instituted."
Fayetteville's outgoing police chief, Tom Bergamine, has vehemently denied accusations that his department has violated drivers' rights.
In March, city consultants with the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives said the racial disparities in the city were a concern, but they were unable to document instances of racial profiling. They made 24 recommendation, mostly procedural.
