African American and Hispanic households in DFW that claimed, in the 2010 census, to have
access to vehicles. With respect to Caucasians and Asians, a lower percentage of contacts were
detected. That is, the percentage of Caucasian and Asian drivers that came in contact with the
police in 2017 was the lower than the percentage of Caucasian and Asian households in DFW
with access to vehicles.
Summary of Findings
The comparison of motor vehicle contacts showed that the Arlington Police Department
came in contact (in motor vehicle-related incidents) with a smaller percentage of Caucasian and
Asian drivers than the percentage that resided in DFW and had access to vehicles. Further, the
data suggested that the percentage of African American and Hispanic drivers that came in
contact with the police in 2017 was higher than the percentage of African American and
Hispanic households in the DFW with access to vehicles. In addition, the data showed that in a
large number of instances, officers did not know the race or ethnicity of individuals before
detaining them, when compared to instances where officers knew the race/ethnicity of
individuals before they were detained.
While considering the findings made in this analysis, it is recommended that the
Arlington Police Department should continue to collect and evaluate additional information on
motor vehicle contact data (i.e., reason for probable cause searches, contraband detected) which
may prove to be useful when determining the nature of the contacts police officers are making
with all individuals; particularly with African Americans and Hispanics. Although this
additional data may not be required by state law, it is likely to provide insights regarding the
nature and outcome of all motor vehicle contacts made with the public.
As part of this effort, the Arlington Police Department is now required by law to:
1) Perform an independent search analysis on the search data collected throughout
2018.
2) Commission data audits in 2018 in order to assess data integrity; that is, to ensure
that the data collected is consistent with the data being reported.
The Arlington Police Department complied with recommendations made last year, in a
similar report, regarding data audits. In sum, the information and analysis provided in this report
serves as evidence that the Arlington Police Department has, once again, complied with the
Texas Racial Profiling Law.