Why black drivers are disproportionately stopped in this Philly police district
Philadelphia's Defender Association says cops pull over more African-American drivers in the 14th Police District than white ones. Is racial profiling to blame?
Listen 12:45
Giovanni Hatter has filed two complaints against Philadelphia police for what he says were unnecessary stops. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
Philadelphia police pull over black drivers more frequently — especially in the 14th District where black motorists were stopped three times more than white ones. That’s according to a data analysis done for Philadelphia’s Defender Association looking at years of traffic stops. On this episode of The Why, WHYY’s Bobby Allyn and reporter Maura Ewing explain why so many African-Americans are pulled over in this police district — an area that spans from some of the city’s richest neighborhoods to some of its poorest.
WHYY is your source for fact-based, in-depth journalism and information. As a nonprofit organization, we rely on financial support from readers like you. Please give today.
Brought to you by The Why
The Why
There’s more to every story if you take the time to tell it.
Philly police want to jump on high-tech policing bandwagon
The goal is to streamline the paperwork process and add high-tech criminology and even drones to help those on patrol.
5 days ago
3 retired Philadelphia detectives to stand trial in perjury case stemming from 2016 exoneration
Martin Devlin, Manuel Santiago and Frank Jastrzembski are accused of lying under oath at the 2016 retrial of a man the jury exonerated in a 1991 rape and murder.
2 weeks ago
Although Philadelphia is about 43 percent black, police stop black drivers nearly 66 percent of the time, according to an analysis of vehicle stop figures.
5 years ago