According to the annual reports brought forward by Pittsburgh police, it was found that there is a growing racial disparity among the frisk, pullover, and arrest ratio. The total statistics may have dropped over the years, but the disparity in the numbers continues to stay the same.
The Consent Decree of 1997
According to this Decree, officers in Pittsburgh were required to undergo training for equitable policing by learning things like cultural diversity and tracking traffic training. This Decree was somewhat of an agreement between the federal government and the city in order to avoid allegations and litigations of violating civil rights.
The Numbers Illustrate All
Let’s first begin with how the Black population in Pittsburgh ranges somewhere in between 23% and 27% and has remained so for the past 2 decades. In simpler terms, this means that about 2/3rd of the city is White.
That being said, there is still a disparity in the majority of arrests even though the numbers seem to be decreasing from 14,000 to 12,000 over a number of years. Some have even found that the disparity in the numbers may have actually widened.
Pittsburgh Police has arrested about 9992 people back in 2018, of which 60% were Black. According to this report, the Black men that made up a major chunk of all the arrests ranged between the ages of 19 and 29.
If we go further back, 2017 was the year when the Black community constituted of about 54.7% of all the arrests. This percentage was quite surprising back then because it represented almost double of the percentage of Black people who lived there at the time. Furthermore, the 2016 report was not disclosed for reasons unknown but the 2015 report did represent Black people constituting to 54% of all arrests.
The Only Police Statistic Where White Trumped Black
According to the report, 2018 was the year where the Black community outnumbered the White community in terms of number of arrests. In one specific category, however, the White community seemed to be quite consistent – getting pulled over to the side of the road.
In 2018, the traffic stops reports illustrated that out of the total 20,495 arrests in that category, 52% of the drivers were White. While these people got away with parking tickets, the Black folks were subjected to frisk searches, and shootings.
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