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Study finds some minorities stopped at disproportionate rate by Spokane police

Published  March 19, 2015 3:17pm PDT
Associated Press

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Spokane police stop black and Native American residents at a disproportionate rate, but don't display racial bias when deciding who to search and arrest.



That's according to a new report by Eastern Washington University professor Edward Byrnes.

The Spokesman-Review says that Byrnes presented his report at a meeting of the Mayor's Advisory Council for Multicultural Affairs this week.

The study analyzed 7,021 police contacts from March to August 2014.

It found black Spokane residents made up 6 percent of police contacts in spite of being only 2.5 percent of the population. Native Americans were involved in 3 percent of police contacts despite being 1.7 percent of the general population.

Hispanics made up 3.3 percent of contacts, but are 5.3 percent of Spokane's population.