CHP more likely to stop Latinos and blacks, study finds

California Highway Patrol Commissioner D.O. "Spike" Helmick said the study shows no apparent racial bias by his officers because minorities were not over-represented in traffic stops. Only after they were stopped were there higher minority arrests.

"When you're going by on the highway at 70 or 80 mph, it's pretty difficult to tell who's inside," Helmick said. "Originally, people tried to advance the idea that we were stopping people based on race. Once an officer stops somebody, they do their job."

The report looked at 2.1 million traffic stops over a nine-month period ending in April.

The CHP did not say how often drivers were searched, and provided no geographic breakdowns that might show whether minorities were targeted in certain areas. It also did not break out results from drug enforcement teams that include CHP officers.

Michelle Alexander, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's racial justice project, criticized the report as being deliberately inconclusive.

The ACLU is involved in a class-action suit filed last year that accuses the CHP of targeting minority motorists on highways between San Jose and Los Banos.

Helmick urged Alexander to "try your case in court. We're not going to try it in the papers."

The CHP report says whites had the highest number of arrests after searches, followed by Hispanics, but doesn't give the percentages or other statistics.

The report says Hispanics were most likely to be released with a verbal warning after a search, which Alexander interpreted to mean a higher proportion of Hispanics were likely to be searched and cleared of wrongdoing.

Additional data being collected by the CHP could be included in next year's report, Helmick said.

Whites made up about 51 percent of the population in 1999, but accounted for over 55 percent of those drivers pulled over for traffic stops, the report says. Whites were 47.6 percent of arrests, it says.

Latinos made up 30.4 percent of the state's population, 26.1 percent of traffic stops, and 34.7 percent of arrests, the CHP statistics show.

Blacks made up 6.8 percent of the population, 7.6 percent of traffic stops, but 9.2 percent of arrests.

Helmick said the department's policy has always been not to discriminate based on race or ethnicity.

"We're re-emphasizing it more, just because it's on everybody's radar screen the last couple years. That's why we volunteered to do the study," he said.

CHP previously had reviewed what limited race and ethnicity data it had from 1998 and 1999 and concluded its officers were not discriminating.

The department also has $5 million to give to local police departments to study racial and gender statistics, and Helmick expects Davis to request $7 million for such grants in next year's budget.

Nine sheriff's departments and 26 police departments have been given grants so far.