East Washingtonian - Your Hometown News Source

OLYMPIA–Washington State University’s Division of Governmental Studies and Services (DGSS) has recently concluded an exhaustive study of Washington State Patrol (WSP) traffic contacts from January 1, 2015, through December 31, 2019. The complete study will be released to the public later this month, once internal distribution is complete.

DGSS examined enforcement decisions, searches, and citation and arrest rates, as well as the “hit rate” of found contraband substances for over 7M WSP contacts during the years studied. This included over 3.4M WSP initiated traffic contacts, over 47,000 calls for service and WSP initiated physical assists, and more than 175,000 collision investigations.

Following upon similar studies by WSU in the early 2000s and studies done by other national academic and media sources that found consistent disproportionalities between search rates of various racial groups in law enforcement data from across the country, the recently concluded DGSS study found no evidence of systemic bias in WSP decisions to stop vehicles.

The study looked at both state and county data and determined that at the county level there was over representation of White drivers in stops using multiple methods of comparison. The study also concluded that Black drivers were at times overrepresented in King and Pierce County stops and that Hispanic drivers were at times overrepresented in Benton County compared to their relative populations in the same areas. However, the study also found that each of these areas have high levels of commuter traffic and in fact, each of these groups was more likely to be assisted by WSP Troopers than they were to be stopped. The study also found that each group was involved in more crashes responded to by WSP than they were stopped in these counties from 2015 through 2019.

While the search rates varied slightly from group to group, the likelihood of motorists being searched was consistently low for all racial groups. The hit rates for finding contraband for Black and Hispanic groups were lower than that that of White drivers, as was the likelihood for arrest and citations for Black, Native American and Hispanic Drivers. Black and Native American drivers were also less likely to receive speeding citations than White drivers, as well as less likely to be involved in a speeding related arrest. Significantly improving but still lingering trends showed Hispanic, Native American and Black drivers were searched at statistically higher rates than White drivers, and Asian and Pacific Islander drivers at rates less than White drivers.

Christina Sanders, Director of the Division of Governmental Studies and Services stated, “Having the ability to do this kind of research, examining raw data that represents interactions across the state and over a period of several years, not only provides the public an opportunity to better understand the facts, but it provides WSP with specific information for continuing improvement in the locations and types of interactions between individuals and Troopers where it is needed.”

While the study found no evidence of systemic or explicit bias in stops, decisions to search, or citation and arrest decisions, lingering statistical disproportionalities between some groups is an area that warrants continuing evaluation. The disproportionalities show significant improvement from similar studies decades prior and the study makes clear that statistical disproportionality for or against any group is not a clear indication of bias as each individual encounter between citizens and police is based on many factors, including patrol patterns and emphasis, the demography of specific patrol areas, active alerts for described suspects or vehicles, time of day, location, traffic volume, individual officer performance and individual motorist behavior. Each of these factors can have significant impact on search decisions and enforcement where the race or other descriptors of the motorist or the officer plays no part.

“We appreciate and respect the findings from WSU’s Division of Governmental Studies and Services,” said WSP Chief John R. Batiste. “They are recognized nationally and even internationally as fair-minded and thorough academic professionals and their findings are both trusted and instructive. I am heartened to see that once again, after thorough study, no evidence of systemic bias can be found in our traffic enforcement operations.

“However,” the Chief added, “we will continue to constantly monitor our operations and use trusted outside reviewers and advisors to continuously improve. Even though the disproportionalities that have troubled us in the past have improved markedly over the years, we will not stop until we have a full understanding of how and why they occur. As I have said repeatedly – if a single member of the public is, or perceives that they are, treated differently or unfairly by one of my Troopers for any reason, then we have a real problem and we will apply real resources to get to the bottom of the matter and correct it. WSP will treat everyone we meet and engage with fairness, dignity, and respect, even in the most tense of situations. I could not be prouder of our Troopers and they know that they could not be held to any higher standard than our unique responsibilities and oaths of office demand.”

WSU will release the entire study to the public later this month after WSP has distributed it to their personnel for review, instruction and awareness. WSP and WSU personnel will be available to the media in a virtual press conference after the study’s release.