The Urbana City Council unanimously accepted the final report of the Urbana Traffic Stop Data Task Force Dec 14.
The group was convened in early 2014 to review nine years of traffic stop data from the Illinois Department of Transportation for signs of racial bias. The task force also reviewed overall police procedures used during the same period, as well as the impact of racially biased policing on the community.
The group published its report Oct 31 and presented the final version to the Urbana City Council Dec 7, concluding that there is significant evidence of minority drivers being stopped more often and searched more often than non-minority drivers. The report calls for ongoing review; police training; reducing fines for the types of citations most often affecting low-income drivers; and urging intentional, proactive community relations efforts between police and the communities they serve.
The resolution accepting the report said the City Council will review the final report and work to incorporate as many of those recommendations as it can.
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