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Searching minorities more often
Most police departments in Massachusetts report searching minorities more often than whites, as a share of people receiving traffic tickets. Departments are ranked here by that disparity. A disparity of 1 reflects an equal distribution of minorities among the ticketed and the searched.
Note: Includes only departments that searched at least 10 minority drivers.
Source: Boston Globe analysis of all traffic tickets in Massachusetts, April 2001 through November 2002.
|
| Rank |
Police department |
Minority search rate |
White search rate |
Disparity |
Minority_tickets |
Minority_searches |
White_tickets |
White_searches |
| 1 |
Wilbraham |
6.5% |
1.4% |
4.7 |
155 |
10 |
1,251 |
17 |
| 2 |
Wilmington |
4.4% |
1.0% |
4.5 |
273 |
12 |
2,433 |
24 |
| 3 |
Chelsea |
0.9% |
0.3% |
3.3 |
1,526 |
14 |
2,860 |
8 |
| 4 |
Newton |
1.9% |
0.6% |
2.9 |
584 |
11 |
4,062 |
26 |
| 5 |
Amesbury |
9.8% |
3.4% |
2.9 |
173 |
17 |
2,270 |
77 |
| 6 |
Cambridge |
2.3% |
0.8% |
2.9 |
1,843 |
43 |
3,667 |
30 |
| 7 |
Fall River |
2.1% |
0.7% |
2.8 |
870 |
18 |
8,980 |
67 |
| 8 |
Salem |
1.3% |
0.5% |
2.7 |
910 |
12 |
2,702 |
13 |
| 9 |
Springfield |
1.6% |
0.6% |
2.7 |
6,674 |
109 |
6,501 |
40 |
| 10 |
Canton |
4.5% |
1.7% |
2.6 |
289 |
13 |
1,403 |
24 |
| 11 |
Wareham |
6.0% |
2.3% |
2.6 |
215 |
13 |
1,375 |
32 |
| 12 |
Fitchburg |
2.3% |
0.9% |
2.5 |
660 |
15 |
1,337 |
12 |
| 13 |
Barnstable |
4.4% |
1.8% |
2.5 |
587 |
26 |
4,546 |
80 |
| 14 |
Worcester |
1.2% |
0.5% |
2.5 |
3,070 |
38 |
7,704 |
38 |
| 15 |
Brookline |
1.7% |
0.7% |
2.3 |
2,128 |
36 |
5,556 |
40 |
| 16 |
Southborough |
6.2% |
2.7% |
2.3 |
195 |
12 |
668 |
18 |
| 17 |
Northampton |
5.6% |
2.6% |
2.2 |
249 |
14 |
1,993 |
51 |
| 18 |
Everett |
1.3% |
0.6% |
2.1 |
1,459 |
19 |
3,903 |
24 |
| 19 |
Haverhill |
6.6% |
3.2% |
2.1 |
424 |
28 |
2,121 |
68 |
| 20 |
North Adams |
21.1% |
10.8% |
2.0 |
71 |
15 |
739 |
80 |
| 21 |
Boston |
1.1% |
0.6% |
1.8 |
33,900 |
358 |
31,359 |
180 |
| 22 |
New Bedford |
8.0% |
4.4% |
1.8 |
1,094 |
87 |
3,368 |
147 |
| 23 |
Tewksbury |
16.6% |
9.3% |
1.8 |
187 |
31 |
1,385 |
129 |
| 24 |
State Police |
2.5% |
1.4% |
1.8 |
47,870 |
1,182 |
176,056 |
2,459 |
| 25 |
Attleboro |
1.9% |
1.1% |
1.7 |
528 |
10 |
3,805 |
42 |
| 26 |
Lowell |
1.7% |
1.0% |
1.7 |
2,270 |
39 |
3,453 |
35 |
| 27 |
Chicopee |
2.5% |
1.5% |
1.6 |
766 |
19 |
2,775 |
42 |
| 28 |
Brockton |
4.9% |
3.0% |
1.6 |
3,744 |
184 |
5,130 |
155 |
| 29 |
Woburn |
1.8% |
1.1% |
1.6 |
626 |
11 |
4,524 |
51 |
| 30 |
Holyoke |
3.9% |
2.8% |
1.4 |
1,081 |
42 |
2,113 |
59 |
| 31 |
Lynn |
1.2% |
0.9% |
1.4 |
4,211 |
51 |
6,125 |
54 |
| 32 |
West Bridgewater |
5.4% |
4.1% |
1.3 |
389 |
21 |
1,649 |
67 |
| 33 |
Waltham |
1.1% |
0.8% |
1.3 |
1,013 |
11 |
3,151 |
26 |
| 34 |
Peabody |
1.4% |
1.2% |
1.2 |
1,088 |
15 |
4,306 |
50 |
| 35 |
Malden |
2.9% |
2.5% |
1.2 |
442 |
13 |
1,463 |
37 |
| 36 |
Leicester |
9.9% |
8.5% |
1.2 |
213 |
21 |
1,002 |
85 |
| 37 |
Hingham |
7.3% |
6.4% |
1.1 |
137 |
10 |
1,365 |
88 |
| 38 |
Framingham |
1.3% |
1.2% |
1.1 |
1,076 |
14 |
2,692 |
31 |
| 39 |
Braintree |
4.2% |
3.8% |
1.1 |
311 |
13 |
1,847 |
70 |
| 40 |
Medford |
2.0% |
1.9% |
1.1 |
592 |
12 |
2,209 |
42 |
| 41 |
Revere |
1.5% |
1.5% |
1.0 |
875 |
13 |
1,983 |
29 |
| 42 |
Somerville |
1.2% |
1.2% |
1.0 |
1,134 |
14 |
2,671 |
33 |
| 43 |
Lawrence |
2.0% |
2.1% |
1.0 |
5,166 |
104 |
2,216 |
46 |
| 44 |
Randolph |
1.3% |
1.4% |
0.9 |
996 |
13 |
1,303 |
18 |
| 45 |
Shrewsbury |
1.4% |
1.5% |
0.9 |
773 |
11 |
2,586 |
40 |
| 46 |
Quincy |
3.1% |
3.5% |
0.9 |
453 |
14 |
1,423 |
50 |
| 47 |
Methuen |
4.4% |
5.2% |
0.8 |
996 |
44 |
1,280 |
67 |
| 48 |
Andover |
1.4% |
2.0% |
0.7 |
832 |
12 |
2,435 |
48 |
| |
Statewide total |
2.1% |
1.6% |
1.3 |
166,429 |
3,434 |
568,935 |
8,864 |
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Note: Includes only departments that searched at least 10 minority drivers.
Source: Boston Globe analysis of all traffic tickets in Massachusetts, April 2001 through November 2002.
Boston Globe/Bill Dedman, dedman@globe.com
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