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White Detroit suburb shows massive disparity in white/black traffic tickets

Discussion in 'Too Hot for Swamp Gas' started by WarDamnGator, Aug 18, 2023.

  1. WarDamnGator

    WarDamnGator GC Hall of Fame

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    Report reveals large racial disparity among Ferndale tickets, arrests involving Black drivers (msn.com)

    The city of Ferndale, on the outskirts of Detroit, gave 84% of their traffic tickets to black people even though the city is only 6% black. They also apparently target people passing through the city --or not in their city at all -- according to the report. Less than 1% of their tickets went to people who actually live in Ferndale, and some apparently were not in Ferndale at all.

    I don't fully understand this, because I don't think it would be legal in Florida, but the article says Ferndale police are issuing tickets to drivers outside of Ferndale, giving tickets to drivers in Detroit. I thought cops couldn't write tickets outside of their jurisdiction.

    The title of the report, "Lifting the Veil on Racial Profiling in Ferndale," shows in the first 10 months of 2021, 86% of arrests and 84% of traffic tickets issued by Ferndale police along Eight Mile Road are drivers who are Black, even though only 6.3% of people who live in Ferndale are Black.

    "The City of Ferndale Police Department are treating drivers inside the City of Detroit differently than the City of Ferndale," CAIR staff attorney Amy Doukoure says.

    The study also states 11% of tickets issued between Jan. 1, 2021, and Oct. 31, 2021, were on the Detroit side of Eight Mile Road, and 80% of all traffic stops made by Ferndale police outside their own city were in Detroit.


    Overall, less than 1% of stops were actually Ferndale residents, according to the report.
     
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  2. murphree_hall

    murphree_hall VIP Member

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    I’m shocked.
     
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  3. WC53

    WC53 GC Hall of Fame

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    Old City
    Wonder what the population that travels that connector stretch of road is vs the population of the city? If they are working a highway, that would be the population counterbalance, not the city.
    Like Miami beach PD stopping everything crossing the bridge.
    Too lazy to look up data or if the enforcement was in response to other issues. I thought Detroit got ghosted.
     
  4. dangolegators

    dangolegators GC Hall of Fame

    Apr 26, 2007
    Well I don't know why this is but it can't be systemic racism. Systemic racism doesn't exist.
     
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  5. GatorFanCF

    GatorFanCF Premium Member

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    It may very well be what’s implied - that the police force is a bigoted group of racists; but, we don’t know.

    That’s the issue with articles like this one - it tells a partial story and leaves an impression without any proof of anything. For instance, men are arrested more than 90% of the time for violent crime but are less than 1/2 of the population; ergo, the entire justice system must hate men and favor women. Where’s the equity? See? Statistics can be used, twisted and made to support almost anything… and sometimes the wrong thing.
     
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  6. docspor

    docspor GC Hall of Fame

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    selective common sense syndrome.

    fyi. virtually nothing can truly be proved.
     
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  7. slocala

    slocala VIP Member

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    I really wonder what will happen when we have autonomous cars. Is it that tech that breaks minor arrests and police budgets?
     
  8. G8tas

    G8tas GC Hall of Fame

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    Something tells me that if the tables in this story were reversed you would immediately jump to conclusions. But since this article doesn't show police and the brightest of light you want to take a "let's look at all the evidence" approach
     
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  9. GatorFanCF

    GatorFanCF Premium Member

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    That “something” is called bias. It makes you normal and I’m not at all offended as you don’t know me at all.

    Trust the science and/or data once it’s been tested, reviewed, challenged and so on. Right now we have some information which certainly can be cause for concern and inquiry but doesn’t prove anything.
     
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  10. docspor

    docspor GC Hall of Fame

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    Big Gov lovers always have BIG GOV RULES as their null hypothesis. And, they think their null hypothesis doesn't REVEAL THEIR BIAS.*


    *
    [​IMG]/SPOILER]
     
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  11. Trickster

    Trickster VIP Member

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    Then this is all you should have said.
     
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  12. GatorFanCF

    GatorFanCF Premium Member

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    Wow…on a message board. Thanks - let me know when the re-education camp bus is leaving.

    Comments are typically insightful when folks (and there have been 3 on just this thread alone) try to focus the discussion on the person, the poster - not the substance of the idea presented.

    Back to the thread: it is noted that over 80% of traffic stops are for POC but less than 7% of Ferndale residents are POC….BUT, only 1% of those given citations were Ferndale residents! Why cite the racial makeup of the town when only 1% of those ticketed were from that town?

    I certainly could be wrong. It sounds to me like Ferndale has encouraged officers to do “extracurricular” policing outside the city limits to obtain more revenue. And, if those nearby Ferndale are typically from a lower socioeconomic status Ferndale police probably figure they have a higher likelihood of getting the revenue vs. a sharp (and expensive) lawyer contesting the ticket. Still not cool; but, who wants to read a story about a “speed trap” vs. race?
     
    Last edited: Aug 19, 2023
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  13. citygator

    citygator VIP Member

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    I am not sure about this one - could be two things. 1. Detroit is 80% African American and Ferndale is a throughway. People who work in Detroit but live in the suburbs dont get tickets cuz of the bumper to bumper traffic, you just cant speed. But after hours that place is a speed trap with all their 35 MPH roads and such. My wife worked there. 2. It's possible they are pulling over black americans passing through as profiling. Id need more info but worthy looking into.
     
  14. Trickster

    Trickster VIP Member

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    Good points.
     
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  15. Orange_and_Bluke

    Orange_and_Bluke Premium Member

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    [​IMG]