Compared to White inhabitants, Black residents receive four times as many traffic penalties.
According to recent statistics, Black Memphis residents receive four times as many traffic fines as White residents, suggesting that not only does traffic enforcement appear to be unsuccessful in creating a safer city.
Data gathered from 2017 to August 2023 is included in “The People’s Report 2024: Driving While BIPOC,” which was released on Monday by Decarcerate Memphis, an organization dedicated to resolving systematic police issues. According to the group’s data, there was a 25% rise in traffic stops after Tyre Nichols’ death.
According to the organization, “this year’s report shows racial disparities continue—people of color receive 81 percent of citations in Memphis and 90 percent of tickets with two or more citations per ticket.” “In addition, the study finds no correlation between reported crimes and traffic stops, but there is a correlation between an increase in traffic fatalities and citations for non-moving infractions.”
Following Tyre Nichols’ passing, the Memphis City Council approved many driving laws, including the Driving Equality Act in Tyre Nichols’ honor, which forbids police from pulling over motorists for infractions as small as faulty tail lights. On the other hand, the Memphis Police Department (MPD) issued more citations, according to the Decarcerate Memphis study.
According to the research, “MPD has significantly emphasized non-moving citations since 2020, despite the ineffectiveness of non-moving violations on crime or road safety.” “MPD officers brought non-moving violations roaring back to pre-pandemic levels within months after all traffic enforcement cratered in March 2020.” Meanwhile, moving offenses continue to be restricted.
Non-moving infractions accounted for 60–64 percent of MPD’s traffic penalties since 2020, according to the study. The group calls this a “weak strategy,” adding that evidence from the courts shows that traffic enforcement does not assist in the resolution of severe offenses.
150 of the 1,432 court cases in 2023 that the group randomly selected were determined to be pretextual traffic stops with “minor infractions.” Additionally, the statistics showed that 91 of these instances, or 61% of them, ended without felony charges being filed.
Another important finding in the survey was discrimination, as Black people make up around 64% of Memphis’ population and are the ones that receive the bulk of traffic fines (74%). This provided more evidence to support the claim that persons of color are disproportionately affected by non-moving traffic citations, which are also ineffectual as public safety measures.
According to the research, “Black residents make up 81 percent of defendants in criminal court—of those accused of pretextual traffic stop offenses, 91 percent are Black.” Contrary to popular belief, white defendants have a higher chance of being found guilty of minor offenses than do Black defendants. This probably indicates that white Memphis residents aren’t often sent to court on unworthy allegations.
Decarcerate Memphis went on to say that their research indicates that traffic enforcement practices like the Organized Crime Unit and the now-dissolved SCORPION unit may be “partially explained” for racial discrepancies. According to the statement, these officers “spend less time than conventional units on safety-related citations.”
The group compared citations from the “top ticketers of uniform patrol and specialized unit” to demonstrate this. According to the results, non-moving infractions accounted for 87% of the specialized unit officer’s citations, compared to 22% for the uniform patrol officer. Although “taking guns and drugs off the streets” is the primary objective of specialized unit officers, according to the organization, they seldom ever succeed in doing so by stopping and inspecting “suspicious” automobiles.
“People of color and the impoverished bear the brunt of the needless detentions, searches, and small-time charges,” the study states. “Black drivers received 73% of the tickets this uniform patrol officer issued, which is still disproportionate given the population and roughly aligns with the MPD’s overall racial disparity.”
The panel makes several recommendations in the report’s conclusion, several of which place a strong emphasis on traffic enforcement legislation. They further implore the MPD leadership to observe these rules and to submit regular updates that assess how well they are being implemented.
Additional recommendations include the dissolution of specialized units and the openness of the data these units produce. Additionally, the organization promotes deprioritizing non-moving offenses.
“In some ways, Memphis and Shelby County have really grown more dangerous in recent years: the number of traffic deaths has increased, particularly after 2020; fewer people are legally allowed to drive; and individuals of color are subject to increased prejudice both in the courts and on the roads. These events happened as a result of law enforcement’s damaging and inefficient tactics, not in spite of their efforts.
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