Researchers are trying to find out if there are still racial disparities in who gets pulled over by Davenport Police. Tomorrow, members of the Davenport Community Advisory Panel will release the latest data regarding the race of drivers involved in traffic stops last year.
Director of the Davenport Civil Rights Commission, Latrice Lacey, says St. Ambrose University has conducted a study every year since 2011, following a community forum on racial profiling.
Professor of Criminal Justice at St. Ambrose University, Chris Barnum, and his research team, first calculate a base-line for how many drivers of each race travel through designated areas. Then, they compare that with traffic stops by the Davenport Police.
In 2011, the researchers found the number of African American drivers stopped by Davenport police was 8 percent higher than would be expected from base-line estimates. By 2013, that fell to 5 percent.
Lacey says the research team will present the latest findings tomorrow at 1 pm, at the League of United Latin American Citizens in Davenport.