Missouri AG Chris Koster, Releases Study Saying Black Drivers More Likely to Be Victims of Racial Profiling

Black group threatens to sue after Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster releases study saying that blacks were 70% more likely to be pulled over than whites.

Citizens Against Racial Profiling, a black group, said it may file a lawsuit against St. Louis suburb of Ladue after a recent report on traffic stops was released. Last week, Attorney General Chris Koster released statistics showing blacks are 70% more likely to be pulled over than whites in Missouri. In Ladue, the figures as astronomical. Blacks are 1,700% more likely to be stopped. According to St. Louis Public Radio, local activist Micheal Moore said the attorney general's study confirms what blacks in the St. Louis area have long maintained.

But Ladue Police Chief Rich Wooten says the figures are misleading because they are based on the number of black residents in Ladue, which is about 1 percent. Wooten says the racial makeup of people driving through the town is much more diverse.

"We have interstate 64, we have interstate 170, we have Clayton Road, Ladue Road, which run through our city, and therefore we can't use our population numbers," said Wooten. "We have to use a regional number." Meanwhile, Ladue's former police chief, Larry White,has filed a lawsuit of his own. He claims city leaders fired him because he refused to target black drivers in traffic stops. Source

It is very troubling that the former police chief felt that he had to step down rather than obey the alleged wishes of city leaders to deliberately target black drivers. "Driving while black," or DWB, can work against you in some cities. So, if you have nothing to hide and you haven't broken the law, then being upset about this is warranted. On the other hand, if you have contraband in your car, when stopped by police, then you have no-one to blame but yourself and you deserve to be pulled over.