'Driving while Black and dealing with law enforcement,' Philando Castile's uncle tells PierreTABC, 'is one of the most serious and deadly encounters that could happen to a person of color these days.'
The racial disparities in the data are not limited to the traffic stops themselves. In all nine cities where search conduct data was available, an ABC News analysis found that Black Americans are more likely to be searched during stops than white Americans.
And in four out of the six cities where search results data was available -- Philadelphia; Chicago; Fresno, California; and San Francisco -- Black Americans who were stopped were less likely to be found possessing contraband than white Americans. In only two out of the 12 cities examined by ABC News -- Louisville, Kentucky; and Houston -- Black drivers were as likely as white drivers to be stopped by the police. But a closer look at the data shows that, even in those cities, Black drivers were subject to more scrutiny than their white counterparts.. In Louisville, Black drivers were more likely to be stopped for suspected violations that turned out to not be serious enough to lead officers to issue the driver a citation.According to Joanna Weiss, the cofounder and co-director of the nonprofit advocacy group Fines and Fees Justice Center, the consequences of these racial disparities in traffic stops ripple throughout the criminal justice system. In most states, she said, the failure to pay fines and fees associated with traffic violations can result in the suspensions of driver's licenses, creating what she called"an impossible choice" for many Americans. "Once their license is suspended, you either stop driving, in which case you can't access work, you can't access childcare, you can't access healthcare, you can't access any of your basic necessities, or you take the risk and continue to drive," Weiss told ABC News."The next time he's pulled over, now [it is] a misdemeanor charge, because driving on a suspended is a misdemeanor in every jurisdiction. That comes with additional fines and fees. It comes with possible jail time as well. So this is how we take somebody, just on the basis of their poverty, and induct them into the criminal justice system." Frank Baumgartner, a professor of the political science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the coauthor of"Suspect Citizens: What 20 Million Tell Us About Policing and Race," said the racial disparities in traffic stops fuel a sense of mistrust among law enforcement and the people they are meant to serve, so he recommended a shift to a less counterproductive policing strategy. "Stop using the traffic code as an excuse to go on a fishing expedition," Baumgartner said."Make sure that the roads are safe, but don't use the traffic code and the vehicle code as an excuse to fight the war on crime because we have to recognize that the vast majority of people who are pulled over, are searched, potentially humiliated, are going to be innocent."Castile's uncle Clarence, meanwhile, is seeking a solution of his own. In 2017, he joined the St. Paul Police Reserves. "My whole idea behind it was to work with police officers to learn a little bit more about what they do, learn some of the terminology," Clarence told ABC News,"and then take that information back to the community and share it with young people, people who have difficulties dealing with cops.""After Phil was shot and killed, it became even more important then," he said,"because I wanted them to know that even though this horrible thing had happened to my family, we could still find a way to work together." ABC News' John Kelly, Tonya Simpson, Jack Date, Halley Freger and Alexandra Myers contributed to this report.
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