In 2023, a report from Eastern Michigan University revealed racial disparities in Ann Arbor traffic stops. Now there is talk of an updated study to see if the situation has changed.
The study by EMU’s Southeast Michigan Criminal Justice Policy Research Project, or SMART, was released just before the Ann Arbor City Council passed an ordinance preventing police from pulling over motorists for minor infractions.
SMART Director Dr. Kevin Karpiak says the key was they used three years of data containing about 30,000 traffic stops.
“Because we had so many stops, we were able to get more fine-tuned about the nature of the details of those stops. When we have fewer stops, you can only make kind of general statements about them.”
Karpiak says he would like to conduct another study to see how things have changed since the ordinance passed. He says that’s as long as proper funding can be obtained and if there is enough information from traffic stops to draw conclusions.
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