Study finds racial disparities in outcomes of police stops across Mass.

Researchers say they found potential racial bias in the penalties given out by police officers during traffic stops across Massachusetts in 2021 and 2022.

While race didn't appear to be a determining factor in who got pulled over for traffic stops, there were differences in the penalties motorists received, according to the report released Tuesday by the state's Executive Office of Public Safety and Security.

Researchers analyzed more than 1.2 million unique traffic stops conducted by municipal and state police departments that issued at least 100 traffic citations per year. The stops were analyzed for differences by race/ethnicity, gender and age.

Overall, the analysis found that police were more likely to give Black and Hispanic drivers criminal citations or arrests during traffic stops and less likely to let them off with warnings.

While the study's authors noted that this race-based difference in outcomes was statistically significant, there "is a lot we don’t know about the circumstances of the stop that could justifiably influence the outcome of the stop."

Researchers also analyzed traffic stops based on the time of day to determine whether officers who are racially profiling drivers can do so more easily in the daylight when race is more easily identifiable. The data showed that non-white drivers were 36% less likely to be stopped during the day than white drivers.

Based on the daylight data, researchers identified eight agencies that were more likely to stop non-white drivers in the day than at night, showing potential racial disparities in their traffic stops.

In analysis of 2021 data, researchers pointed to racial disparities from the Southwick and Westwood police departments, and Massachusetts State Police Troop C-4, which operates out of Leominster. From the 2022 data, they identified police departments in Hanover, Ludlow, and Wrentham, along with Boston Police Department District E-18, which is in Hyde Park, and Massachusetts State Police Troop C-3, which operates out of Brookfield.

The report says that these department findings do not prove racial profiling occurred, but should "simply serve as a starting point for further discussion and reflection.”

The study, conducted by  Salem and Worcester State University researchers, was commissioned by the public safety office to satisfy a requirement of the 2019 Hands-Free Law. It follows another report released in 2022 analyzing similar data from 2020.

Based on the findings, the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security will discuss the report with the Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell "to determine the next steps", as is required by the 2019 law that ordered the study.

The public safety and security office will hold virtual public meetings on March 20, 21 and 26 to discuss the findings and get feedback, according to a press release. They will also accept emailed feedback until April 11.