Following the recent release of the ACLU of Illinois's report on "Racial Disparity in Consent Searches and Dog Sniff Searches", the Chicago Sun-Times published an editorial in favor of banning consent searches. The article cites the report's findings of racial profiling by the Illinois State Police (ISP) and Chicago Police Department (CPD) in which Hispanics and African Americans were far more likely to have their vehicles searched than white motorists. The report analyzed 2013 data from the Illinois Department of Transportation's Illinois Traffic Stop Study. The ACLU of Illinois urges lawmakers to reconsider banning consent vehicle searches and put an end to racial profiling by police officials in Illinois.
Three years ago, we called on the state police to stop doing consent searches, but the latest few studies make an excellent case that every police force should ban them. The great majority of consent searches turn up no contraband and solve no crimes. Mostly they just send an ugly message that blacks and Hispanics are second-class citizens on Illinois roads.
