Bias at the Core? Enduring Racial Disparities in D.C. : Metropolitan Police Department Stop-and-Frisk Practices (2022-2023)

By the American Civil Liberties Union of the District of Columbia (ACLU-D.C.) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU National),  

This report, produced by the American Civil Liberties Union of the District of Columbia (ACLU-D.C.) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU National), follows two previous reports that analyzed data on stops and frisks conducted by the Washington, D.C. (the District, D.C.) Metropolitan Police Department (MPD, the Department). MPD is required to collect data on all stops conducted by its officers pursuant to the Neighborhood Engagement Achieves Results (NEAR) Act.1 Although the NEAR Act does not require MPD to publish its stops data, MPD leadership made a public commitment to releasing the data on a semi-annual basis. 2 The data serves as a critical tool that provides the public with opportunities to engage in police accountability efforts. The data enables the public to examine the outcomes and potential impact of the practices of D.C. police officers. This report seeks to assist community members, advocates, members of the D.C. Council, the Mayor, and other stakeholders in exercising oversight and furthering the MPD’s accountability. This report covers data collected between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2023. The data analyzed in this report indicates that the stark racial disparities present in the 2019 and 2020 stops data remain. MPD continues to disproportionately stop Black people in D.C. Key Findings 1. Black people are being stopped at disproportionate rates in relation to their demographic representation in the District. Although Black people comprised just over 44% of the District’s population in 2022 and 2023, they comprised 71.4% of the people stopped in 2022 and 70.6% of the people stopped in 2023. 2. MPD’s data indicate that the stop-and-frisk tactic is not particularly effective at removing guns from the streets. The rate at which guns are seized is not significant enough to justify the overwhelming number of stops being conducted. a. In 2022, there were 68,244 stops. Of these, only 0.9% resulted in the seizure of a gun. b. In 2023, there were 68,561 stops. Of these, only 1.2% resulted in the seizure of a gun. The significant disproportionality across racial groups raises concerns about biased policing by MPD. Research on disproportionality and racial bias in other jurisdictions has concluded that racial disparities in stops and searches cannot be explained by crime or other non-race factors. Here, too, we advance the position that these disparities in MPD’s stop-and-frisk practices are consistent with racial bias. Stop-and-frisk practices can be harmful to individuals and communities. There are both short- and long-term implications for people who are stopped and searched by the police—from health-related issues, such as significant psychological distress, to social implications, such as negative impacts with regard to educational and employment opportunities. Communities or groups of people who experience racially biased policing practices are additionally impacted. These communities and groups develop distrust of the police. For Black communities, the Department of Justice has noted that the “experience of disproportionately being subjected to stops and arrests in violation of the Fourth Amendment shapes black residents’ interactions with the [police], to the detriment of community trust,” and “makes the job of delivering police services … more dangerous and less effective.” 

Washington DC: ACLU of The District of Columbia, 2024. 19p.