Blacks, Hispanics Still More Likely To Get Traffic Tickets In Illinois
CHICAGO (CBS) -- If you're black or brown, you're still more likely to get a traffic ticket in Illinois than if you're white.
A WBBM Newsradio analysis of Illinois Department of Transportation numbers indicates that, in 2011, 61 percent of minorities who were stopped by police got traffic tickets, while only 52 percent of whites did. There was a similar disparity in 2010.
Caucasians also fared better in the written warning department last year. In 2011, whites who were stopped received written warnings 32 percent of the time, compared to 21 percent of the time for African-Americans or Latinos.
LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio's Bernie Tafoya reports
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Overall, the number of traffic stops made by police in Illinois last year was down nearly 9 percent from 2010, with fewer than 2.2 million (2,166,613) motorists stopped in 2011 compared to more than 2.3 million (2,376,672) drivers stopped in 2010.
The state started keeping track of the racial breakdown of drivers in 2004, to determine what extent racial profiling might be used by police in making traffic stops.
In 2004, nearly 2.5 million motorists were stopped by police in Illinois. Of those, more than 60 percent of whites stopped received tickets while 68 percent of minorities who were pulled over were ticketed. Also in 2004, nearly 25 percent of whites stopped received written warnings while 16.5 percent of minorities did.
