Baltimore County Releases Traffic Stop Data Dashboard
TOWSON, MD (WJZ) -- Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski released Friday a new interactive data dashboard displaying detailed information about police traffic stops in Baltimore County.
The Traffic Stop Data Dashboard, developed by Baltimore County's BCSTAT team in collaboration with the Baltimore County Police Department, displays reportable traffic stop data from 2017 to the present in accordance with Maryland state data collection and reporting legislation, according to a county statement. These data include the number of traffic stops by race, the reasons for stops, and traffic stop outcomes.
This dashboard allows users to see stop, search, and arrest trends over time, demographic statistics, and other related data in an interactive format.
In November 2019, after a preliminary review of basic traffic stop data showed that African American individuals were issued citations at a higher rate than other individuals, Olszewski created the Workgroup on Equitable Policing to examine policing policies and make recommendations regarding equitable practices, training, supervision, and transparency and accountability for law enforcement.
Troy Williams, the county's first chief diversity and inclusion officer, is the group's chairman.
In July 2020, after several high-profile national incidents of deaths of African Americans at the hands of police officers, Olszewski issued a second executive order to make the group permanent and expand the scope of the group, now known as the Equitable Policing Advisory Group (EPAG). The dashboard released Friday fulfills a recommendation of the EPAG to make data more available to the public, according to the statement.
"This new tool represents an important step forward and reaffirms the county's continued commitment to implementing the recommendations of the Equitable Policing Advisory Group," Williams said. "Moving forward, we must continue to work across the criminal justice continuum in order to foster more equitable policing for every resident across Baltimore County."
Note: This article was originally published on June 5, 2021