El Paso Police talk about racial profiling analysis report at City Council

A new racial profiling analysis report for the El Paso Police Department raised some eyebrows at the City Council meeting on Tuesday.

The report, conducted by two professors at the University of North Texas Professional Development Institute analyzed population numbers, ethnicity and traffic stops in the City of El Paso.

There were 77,567 ‘vehicle stops’ conducted by El Paso Police in 2013, according to the report. The document then divides those stops by the ethnicity of people stopped and if they were cited, arrested or searched.

The El Paso population is 80% Hispanic and, according to the report, 72% of traffic stops were for hispanic drivers. The white population in El Paso is 14% yet 23% of traffic stops were of White drivers. About 3.4% of El Paso’s population is African American and there were 3.2 % of traffic stops that were of African American drivers.

City Rep. Emma Acosta raised questions about the number of African Americans who were searched after they were stopped. Nineteen percent of African Americans who were stopped were also searched by Police. That’s fairly higher than searches for Hispanics and Whites. Twelve percent of Hispanic drivers who were stopped were also searched; seven percent of white drivers.

“It can’t be that much because if it is then we have a problem. Tthe demographics of El Paso show we only have 3% African Americans in El Paso,” said Acosta.

David Almonte, the Deputy City Manager who oversees the Police Department, said the report will be sent to state officials for analysis. He said the City is within state parameters. “We’re in full compliance based on the information provided by the Police Department that we do not do any racial profiling.”