ILLINOIS – Black and Latino drivers continued to be stopped by police while driving in Illinois at higher rates in 2024 than White drivers. That finding, reported by the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) and drawn directly from data reported by law enforcement agencies across Illinois, shows twenty years of consistent and unexplained disparities by race in traffic stops each and every year.
In 2024, IDOT reported that police in Illinois conducted more than 2 million traffic stops across the state, in large cities, small towns and on state highways. The consultant analyzed the data using two different benchmarks to assess the comparative rates of traffic stops for drivers by race. In Chicago, for example, Black motorists were 3.2 times more likely to be stopped (compared to White motorists) according to a model that measures the driving population for comparison, while Latino drivers were 2.74 times more likely. When IDOT consultants used a model based on the estimated mileage driven by different racial groups, Black motorists in Chicago were 4.11 times more likely to be stopped and Latino drivers were 4.86 times more likely than White motorists. In Peoria, the driving population model showed that Black drivers were 5.2 times more likely to be stopped and Latino drivers were twice as likely to be stopped compared to White drivers. The mileage model was worse – showing that Black drivers were 8 times more likely to be stopped and Latino drivers nearly 4 times (3.9) likely to be subjected to a traffic stop for every mile driven in Peoria.
As Illinois marks the 20th anniversary of collecting, analyzing and reporting this data. The ACLU of Illinois today called on law enforcement and the community to focus on the report with recommendations recently issued by a statewide Task Force of experts on traffic stops. The Task Force noted that there is “no formal mechanism to provide community advocates and other interested community members support in understanding key results and meaningfully engaging local government officials regarding traffic and pedestrian stops.” Building on this observation, the ACLU of Illinois is calling on the public and law enforcement to take a series of concrete steps, including:
- Hold public community discussions on the data for each jurisdiction. At that meeting, police should be prepared to explain their reasons and purposes for conducting traffic stops and how they believe traffic stops achieve those goals, including data analysis supporting that conclusion. They also should explain the percentage of officers’ time that is taken up with traffic stops versus other activities.
- Make space for the public to share their experiences with traffic stops, including the hundreds of people across the state who were stopped multiple times in 2024. These public meetings also should allow community members to share ideas for changes in policing policies that reduce disparities with a commitment by law enforcement to be open to implementing or piloting solutions that can meet shared goals.
- Consider actions that would reduce the number of traffic stops and reduce the disparate impact on Black and Latino drivers. These actions could include prohibiting pretextual traffic stops, prohibiting stops based on minor equipment and registration violations, ending the use of suspicionless consent searches, and getting rid of roving “tactical” units that mostly make traffic stops.
- Use the data as a management tool – identify officers who are most likely to stop Black or Latino motorists compared to white drivers and provide additional training and oversight for those officers.
The ACLU of Illinois believes that law enforcement and the community can work together to find tangible solutions to these problems. The 2024 data revealed that more than 365,000 traffic stops last year were made statewide for equipment violations – like a taillight or license plate light being out. For example, programs like Lights On!, recently offers a voucher to motorists who are stopped for such violations – vouchers that can be used to repair the violation rather than subject the driver to further stops. We hope solutions like this can be implemented in ways that achieve the goals identified by community members and law enforcement and they can be replicated in communities across the state.
“For two decades now, traffic stop data reported by law enforcement agencies has shown persistent racial disparities,” said Alexandra Block, Director of the Criminal Legal System and Policing Project at the ACLU of Illinois. “Some communities have used the data to make changes and improve disparities. But few communities have used the data to generate a public discussion where members of the community can share their lived experiences, hear from law enforcement, and generate solutions together.”
“We hope this report is an opportunity to initiate that discussion all across the state.”
The entire IDOT report can be found here.
The Task Force 2025 report can be found here.