EX ALDERMAN NEWSLETTER 137 and UNAPPROVED Chesterfield 82 by John Hofmann July 26, 2014
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EX ALDERMAN NEWSLETTER 137 and UNAPPROVED Chesterfield 82 By John Hofmann July 26, 2014 THIS YEAR'S DRIVING WHILE BLACK STATS: For some reason the Post-Dispatch did not decide to do a huge article on the Missouri Attorney General's release of Vehicle Traffic Stop statistical data dealing with the race of drivers stopped by police. The stats did not change that much from last year. Perhaps the Post-dispatch is tired of doing the same story over and over or finally realized that the statistics paint an unfair picture because the overall region's racial breakdown is not used in areas with large interstate highways bringing hundreds of thousands of people into mostly white communities. This does not mean profiling and racism doesn't exist, but is not as widespread as it was 30 years ago. Traffic stop statistics for cities are based on their local populations and not on regional populations. This can be blatantly unfair when there are large shopping districts that draw people from all over a region or Interstate highways that bring people from all over the region through a community. CHESTERFIELD: Once again the Chesterfield Police come off looking pretty good. The four largest racial groups in Chesterfield are: Whites (84%) Asians (9%), Hispanics (2.9%) and Blacks (2.6%). If you believe in these statistics they show the Chesterfield Police are stopping too many whites and blacks and not stopping enough Asians and Hispanics. That is what is wrong with the Missouri Collection of Traffic data. The County wide population data comes into play since there is a major Interstate Highway going through Chesterfield and four major shopping districts. 1 2013 2012 County Population % TOTAL STOPS 10,319 9,564 WHITE 8964 87% 8363 87% 68.9% BLACK 890 8.6% 728 7.6% 23.6% HISPANIC 61 Less than 1% 67 Less than 1% 2.5% ASIANS 294 2.8% 314 3.3% 3.5% TOWN AND COUNTRY: The total number of traffic stops in Town and Country dropped from 2012 to 2013 by 1,632...from 10,358 in 2012 to 8,726 in 2013. That is an 8.4% decrease in traffic stops. There are two reasons for the decrease. First was staff reductions through retirements and resignations of police officers. Town and Country doesn't keep an active hiring list, where the applicants at the top of the list are hired as openings occur. Instead they do a new hiring process which can take several months. Secondly the four officer traffic unit that worked independently of on-duty shifts, was disbanded and a single traffic officer was assigned to each 12-hour shift. This meant there were no longer two traffic officers on duty at the same time during peak violation times on major highways. 2013 2012 County Population % TOTAL STOPS 8,726 10,355 WHITE 7,324 83.9% 8,759 84.5% 68.9% BLACK 1,178 13.5% 1,266 12.2% 23.6% Hispanic 66 Less than 1% 69 Less than 1% 2.5% Asian 141 1.6% 215 2.0% 3.5% STOPS ONLY ON INTERSTATE HIGHWAYS IN 2013 Total 5,863 WHITE 4,801 81.1% BLACK 923 15.7% 2 Hispanic 38 less than 1 % Asian 215 2.0% While 86.5% of Town and Country is White and only 83.9% of the traffic stops involved whites and 2.6% of Town and Country's population is Black and 13.5% of traffic stops involved blacks, there is an excellent reason why. Unlike Chesterfield where there is not active regular enforcement on I-64, Town and Country does do daily traffic enforcement on I-270 and I-64. 67% of the Town and Country traffic stops are on Interstate highways. As someone who did traffic enforcement and supervised traffic enforcement it is just about impossible to racially discriminate while doing speed enforcement using a LASER Speed Gun and especially on the Interstate highways. The officers hit moving cars that are 600-1000 feet away that are traveling at high speeds. You are not looking at the race of the driver, but the car, the aiming of the LASER and viewing the speed read out. There are over 400,000 cars a day going through Town and Country on Interstate highways. That kind of volume represents a broad cross section of St. Louis County and the metro region not the population figures of Town and Country with 11,000 people who have higher than normal incomes. Using the population breakdown of the County as a whole, at least on Interstate Highway traffic stops, Town and Country cops are stopping too many white drivers and not enough Blacks, Asians and Hispanics. FRONTENAC: If you drive Hwy 40/I-64 you know that the Frontenac PD does a lot of traffic enforcement. 40 years ago they used to be notorious for running radar on NB Lindbergh right after you drove into Frontenac before Litzsingner Road. 3 2013 2012 County Population % TOTAL STOPS 3838 3494 WHITE 3068 79.9% 2753 78.7% 68.9% BLACK 664 17.3% 641 18.3% 23.6% HISPANIC 12 Less than 1% 10 Less than 1% 2.5% ASIAN 57 1.4% 46 1.3% 3.5% At first one might think the higher numbers of Blacks being stopped is socio-economic and due to thefts at Plaza Frontenac. There were 74 "investigative Stops" reported with 47 involving Whites, 25 Blacks, one Hispanic and one "other" race. That's 63.5% white and 33.78 Black. Of course "Investigative stop" is a broad term and certainly could include some "driving while Black" stops. 54% of Frontenac's vehicle stops are on I-64 and 26.3% are on Lindbergh. LADUE: The total percentage of Blacks being stopped in Ladue for 2013 was the lowest in the last 10-years. In the last 13 years Ladue hit a high of 22.5% Blacks stopped in 2006 and a low of 10.6% stopped in 2002. 2013 2012 County Population % TOTAL STOPS 3856 2783 WHITE 3243 84.1% 2279 81.8% 68.9% BLACK 427 11.9% 384 13.7% 23.6% HISPANIC 21 Less than 1% 12 Less than 1 % 2.5% ASIAN 114 2.9% 2,8% 3.5% Whites make up 93% of Ladue's population and Blacks only have 1%. However Ladue does have a portion of I-170 along its Eastern border that has a number of Blacks using it and I-64 which cuts through the middle of the heart of Snoburbia. 4 In 2013 Ladue only made 33.8% of their traffic stops on I-64 and I-170. Ladue had a reputation for stopping Blacks for no reason other than they were Black that dated back to the 1970s. When I was cop in Rock Hill a Black Rock Hill resident who would be pulled over in Ladue would have me wave to them as they drove by in Rock Hill. ROCK HILL: Speaking of Rock Hill where 68.8% of the population is white and 22.9% is Black, Whites get pulled over by the police far more often than Blacks. Whites are stopped 84% of the time and Blacks only 13.2%. Most of the Blacks and Whites who live in Rock Hill and nearby neighborhoods in Webster Groves know the reputation Rock Hill has had for speed enforcement since 1985 and slow down when they are in Rock Hill. PINE LAWN: While most look for the numbers showing how heavily populated White communities pull over a disproportionate number of Black people, Pine Lawn is always a case in the opposite. Pine Lawn generates revenue by writing speeding tickets to people on WB I-70. While Pine Lawn is 95.8% Black and just 1.3% White, 21.5% of the vehicle stops involve whites. 31.5% of all car stops in 2013 in Pine Lawn were on I-70. FOLLOW THE MONEY: Okay if you are not interested in politics (why are you reading this?) this may put you to sleep. But here is your chance to see if you know anyone who gave $1000 to a local candidate. I highlighted the contributions from Town and Country and Chesterfield. Also see which Republican candidate got $25,000 from Rex Sinquefield and which Democratic candidate got $100,000 from his wife. 5 Million Dollar John Diehl: For the first time in six years Diehl has token opposition in any election. This time in the November 2014 general election. Democrat Al Gerber, the confused speaking, ultra liberal running against a Republican in a district where Republicans get as much as 77% of the vote in many precincts. (Gerber did defeat me in 2010 on the Town and Country BOA with the help of existing alderpersons wanting to get rid of me. They all turned on Gerber in the next election when he was easily defeated.) By March 2014 before Gerber had filed, Diehl had raised $1,516,571 since 2008 to run against no one. He had previously been unopposed in every primary and general election. In the second quarter of 2014 Diehl raised $144,020. If Diehl is reelected he will go from being the House Majority Whip to the Speaker of the House. Here are some of the contributors from April 1 to June 30: $250 Brent Hemphill Lobbyist for three gaming companies, several health care groups, the pork industry, NORANDA ALUMINUM, $500 Missouri Insurance Coalition Jefferson City, MO $2750 Travellers Insurance Co Hartford, CT $5,000 Burns and McDonnell, the Kansas City Co used their Town and County address $2,500 Monsanto Co.