Posted on Jul 23, 2022

The Tampa Police Department will work with an outside expert to track, analyze and publicly release data on all traffic stops to ensure officers are not racially profiling motorists.

Newly sworn-in police Chief Mary O’Connor made the commitment this week at an annual event hosted by the Hillsborough Organization for Progress and Equality. Also known as HOPE, the nonprofit collective of more than two dozen local churches advocates for social reforms and has been pushing local law enforcement agencies to collect more data on traffic stops.

HOPE on Monday held its annual Nehemiah Action event, during which the group invites local leaders and policymakers to a meeting to get commitments from them on specific issues. O’Connor was asked if the department would “work with an outside expert to track, analyze and communicate data on all traffic stops.”

“Yes,” the chief replied, drawing applause and cheers from the crowd at Nativity Catholic Church in Brandon.

“If you guys have the knowledge, you now have the power to make change in your police department if the data suggests that there is something disparate there,” O’Connor said. “So the first thing we need to do is collect the data.”

O’Connor’s commitment is believed to be the first of its kind among major law enforcement agencies in the Tampa Bay area.

Last year, when the Tampa Bay Times requested comprehensive traffic stop databases from six major police departments and sheriff’s agencies in the area — statistics readily available in some U.S. jurisdictions and that experts say is necessary for a thorough analysis — none could provide them.

When asked, Tampa police shared that over six months ending in May, officers made more than 17,000 stops and issued 9,000 tickets. Of those tickets, roughly one-third went to white drivers and one third to Black drivers — though only about one fifth of Tampa’s population is Black. The agency said it also could export more information from citations, for a processing fee.

In a Times story about the issue published in July, criminal justice researchers said collecting deeper data on all traffic stops allows agencies to identify disparities and patterns that go beyond individual complaints. They said making that information easily accessible to the public is crucial for accountability and transparency.

Original article: https://www.tampabay.com/news/hillsborough/2022/04/01/tampa-police-to-collect-analyze-and-release-more-traffic-stop-data/?outputType=amp