Minneapolis Has Major Racial Disparity In Arrests, ACLU Study Says
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO/AP) -- New data compiled by the American Civil Liberties Union found black people are nearly nine times more likely to be arrested for low-level offenses than white people.
The Associated Press reports they examined more than 96,000 arrests by the Minneapolis Police Department. The ACLU found that white people make up 64 percent of the Minneapolis population, but 23 percent of low-level arrests.
The study found black people account for 19 percent of the population and 59 percent of the low-level arrests. The ACLU focused on crimes such as minor driving offenses, curfew violations, public consumption or trespassing from Jan. 1, 2012 through Sept. 30, 2014.
Chuck Samuelson, executive director of the ACLU of Minnesota, told the Associated Press the numbers are not surprising.
"If you are going to criminalize behavior, then you've got to enforce it among everybody. You need to enforce the laws based on behavior, and not by color," Samuelson said.
The ACLU also produced a short video about racial policing in Minneapolis.
Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges said that the study serves as a reminder of the work that still needs to be done.
"I am committed to closing every harmful gap—safety, health, education, income, housing, and employment—where outcomes are worse for people of color than white people," Hodges said. "I will continue working with the community and our Police Department to create meaningful change. I applaud council members for their time and efforts on these issue as well."
Minneapolis Police Chief Janee Harteau defended her staff, saying the alarming numbers from the report require some context.
"When you say that African Americans are more likely to be arrested than white people, when you are looking at raw numbers," Cheif Harteau said. "It is not taking into account repeat offenders."
Nekima Levy Pounds is the president of the Minneapolis NAACP, and one of the organizers of Black Lives Matter.
"There needs to be a more serious focus on the types of people who are hired by the Minneapolis police department," Levy Pounds said. "To make sure they are paying attention to the psychological profiles of certain officers."
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