For the Milwaukee Police Department and Fire and Police Commission
Chapter 6
Citizen Stop and Search Practices
Finding 33
MPD's traffic stop practices have a disparate impact on the African-American community.
MPD should continue voluntary collection of traffic stop data, a practice that is to be commended.
The department’s traffic enforcement policy (Memorandum 2017-275) specifically addresses this finding as our policy states, “It is abundantly clear that crime disproportionately afflicts some of our neighborhoods. It is an unfortunate paradox that the vulnerable neighborhoods that most need the police are often inhabited by racial and ethnic minorities who sometimes feel unfairly targeted by police. Yet experience tells us that the intelligent, assertive use of police authority to stop people and vehicles can be an invaluable tool that reduces crime and enhances safety in these same neighborhoods. Our challenge is to balance these very real considerations.” Our policy further addresses this challenge by stating, “Our integrity demands of us that we reject expedient tactics. The Milwaukee Police Department will continue to focus its energies on smart policing strategies based on data, accurate and timely intelligence, reasonable suspicion, probable cause, the judicious use of police discretion and partnerships with the community, while rejecting any tactics even partly based on assumptions about race or ethnicity.”
In addition to the department’s hot spot policing and directed patrol strategies, MPD’s current priority traffic enforcement model is based on the nationally recognized Data-Driven Approaches to Crime and Traffic Safety (DDACTS) program. DDACTS integrates location-based traffic crash, crime and other enforcement data to establish effective and efficient methods for deploying law enforcement resources. This model affords the department the dual benefit of reducing traffic crashes and crime, thus reducing overall social harm.
In 2015, the department also conducted extensive research on traffic stop enforcement, measuring subject, victim and race.
The state of Wisconsin required all law enforcement agencies to report traffic stop data to the state effective January 1, 2011, but in June 2011, the state legislature repealed this requirement. However, Chief Flynn decided MPD would continue to collect race and search data during every traffic stop despite the state law repeal. In October 2014, the Milwaukee Common Council passed Milwaukee City Ordinance 312-16 (Collection of Traffic Stop Data), which requires the department to collect data on the races of all occupants of motor vehicles stopped by the department, analyze the data and use the results to inform department management. This ordinance was not passed until three years after the state law was repealed, which meant MPD continued to collect race and search data voluntarily until it was required by city ordinance.
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