EPD report shows disparity in traffic violations
EPD officers were asked
to complete a survey after
traffic stops to help identify
and prevent racial profiling
By A. Sho Ikeda
Senior News Reporter
A preliminary report on vehicle
stops released by the Eugene Police
Department on Aug. 12 reveals that
nearly twice as many men than
women were pulled over by officers for
traffic violations. But whether race and
ethnicity play a larger role than gender
in traffic stops is uncertain.
rrhe results of the first-ever analysis of
police traffic stops in Eugene show that
black drivers were pulled over at a more
frequent rate than other races based on
their percentage of the population.
White drivers made up the largest por
tion of traffic stops, most likely because
the majority of Eugene's population is
white, according to the report. Asian
drivers were pulled over the least, and
less frequently than any other minority.
Blacks and Latinos also experience
longer traffic stops on average than
those of white and Asian drivers.
'Ihe stud/ s author, Vikas Gumbhir, a
U niversity graduate student working to
ward a Ph.D. in sociology, said people
shouldn't jump to conclusions based
on the study. The data reflects one year
worth of analysis, and the report stated
discrimination is only one of many
possibilities that could explain the dif
ferences in treatment of drivers.
"Whether racial profiling is hap
pening or not is too much to ask from
this data," Gumbhir said. "I don't
think this data alone is enough to
prove either way."
EPD interim Police Chief Thad
Buchanan said in an e-mail to the
Racial Profiling Task Group that the
issue is more complicated than it ap
peared on the surface.
"The community wanted to know
what our traffic stop data looked like,"
Buchanan said. "Now we have some
thing to show."
The report is built on data gathered
between January 2002 and December
2002 and is based on 17,871 stops con
ducted by EPD officers. Officers were
asked to fill out a 19-item survey on cus
tom-printed machine-readable forms af
ter a traffic stop. Completed survey cards
were then scanned into a database, and
the resulting data was checked against
the cards for errors and omissions.
EPD estimates that cards were com
pleted for 78 percent of stops.
The majority of traffic stops — 89.3
percent— involved white drivers. Ap
proximately 87.3 percent of Eugene's
population is white. Latino drivers,
making up 4.3 percent of the popula
tion, were involved in 4.3 percent of all
stops. Black drivers comprised 2.4 per
cent of all stops and form 1.1 percent of
the population. Asian drivers, while
comprising 3.7 percent of the popula
tion, were the subjects of 2.3 percent of
all stops. In 13.4 percent of all stops the
officer formed an opinion on the dri
ver's race before the stop and of those
drivers, 90.8 percent were white.
Latino and black drivers were more
likely to be searched than white driv
ers but were less likely to experience
enforcement such as receiving a cita
tion. However, Latino and black driv
ers were more likely to be arrested
compared to white drivers.
Most traffic stops resulted from traf
fic violations such as speeding. How
Adelle Lennox Design Editor
ever, more black and Latino males
than white males were stopped be
cause the officer had pre-existing
knowledge of a warrant a suspended
or revoked license, or other reasons.
Contact the city/state politics reporter
at shoikeda@dailyemerald.com.
TASK FORCE
continued from page 6
She said the group was trying to de
termine whether changes could be
made to the University's Student
Conduct Code in order to discour
age students from rioting or com
mitting other crimes.
The task force progress report also
I
suggested adding more lighting in the
neighborhood, offering a tax exemp
tion to those who build new housing
and increasing police presence
In August, the Eugene Police De
partment introduced a bike patrol
officer to the West University neigh
borhood in order to enhance polic
ing of the area. Officer Rob Clowers
patrols the neighborhood from
11th Avenue to 19th Avenue and
from Kincaid Street to High Street.
Clowers said he also checks up
on residences that have purchased
kegs of beer with information pro
vided by the Oregon Liquor Con
trol Commission. The officer said
he checked on 30 kegs the first
weekend of fall term.
"Things had been really quiet up
until last week," Clowers said, adding
that he issued several minor in pos
session violations, responded to sev
eral large parties and also caught a
suspected burglar. Clowers said the
majority of problems didn't generally
arise from older University students,
but mostly incoming freshman, non
students and visitors from Corvallis
and Portland.
"Some freshmen even asked
me for directions to a party,"
Clowers said.
The task force meets again on
Nov. 6 where people will be elected
to serve on the board of the West
University Neighborhood Associa
tion. For more information con
cerning the West University Neigh
borhood Association, contact Steve
Norris at 682-5009.
Contact the city/state politics reporter
at shoikeda@dailyemerald.com.
University Health
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Every Tuesday from 9:30 - 11:30 am you can get free total cholesterol screening.
Simply check in at the Health Education room on the first floor of the Health Center.
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Excellent books are available for loan to UO students flom t|ie Hellif^ducation room
in the Health Center. There you will also find health related newsletters, articles, and
pamphlets. Just stop by.
Guest Speakers and Present§|Jons:
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Meet with a peer health edu
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