CBS News Chicago covered Illinois's latest racial profiling issue involving police officials searching vehicles of minorities at a higher rate than whites. The findings were from an ACLU report which looked at thousands of reported traffic stops in Illinois. The study found patterns of the Illinois State Police and the Chicago Police Department requesting to search vehicles of Hispanics and African Americans more often then those of whites.
Not only were Hispanic and African American drivers twice as likely be searched, but white drivers were twice as likely to have contraband found in their vehicles.
CBS interviewed ACLU of Illinois Communications and Public Policy Director Ed Yohnka, who said:
It’s hard to refute these numbers. They are searching a higher number and a higher rate of drivers of color, and they’re finding less contraband in those drivers, as compared to white drivers.
Yohnka also explained that though drivers have the right to say no, many feel pressured to vehicle searches when asked. Drivers often feel coerced to comply in fear of appearing guilty of hiding something they are not. The ACLU urges for consent-based searches to be banned in Illinois.
