Olivette Police Dept
The City of Olivette has two major highways within its boundaries. I-170 is on the east and HWY 340 (Olive Boulevard) is a major thoroughfare that divides the north and south sectors of the City. The reported population of the City is 7,737; however, on a daily basis, over 100,000 vehicles utilize I-170 and over 32,000 vehicles utilize Olive Blvd. Olivette has employers that employ hundreds of employees which also increases the daily population. It does not seem adequate to determine potential bias without including the massive amount of people of varying demographics who work, visit and travel through Olivette daily while only considering Olivette's resident population who are 16 years old and over. This report indicates a disparity index for Resident White and Black drivers at .897 and 1.283, respectively. It is important to note the above figures are based upon relatively small numbers, which can have a dramatic effect on percentages. For example, if Olivette officers stopped only 1 more White driver and 1 less Black driver per month, the disparity indexes would be .975 and 1.11, respectively, much closer to a value of 1 for both races. An examination of the data reveals that Black drivers are stopped predominately for equipment and license violations. This is also true for past years. This may point to a larger socioeconomic issue. In response to this, in 2020, the Police Department revised its policies pertaining to mandatory arrests for certain traffic violations. Officers are no longer mandated to arrest for Driving While Suspended or Revoked, nor are they to issue equipment violations if a driver has received a ticket for the same violation from a regional police department within 60 days. This reduces a possible financial strain from bond fees, tow fees, ticket fees and court costs. These policy revisions appear to be having a positive effect on reported arrest rates. In 2019, the arrest rate for White drivers was 2.42 and for Black drivers it was 6.32. In 2020, the rates were 1.62 (White) and 2.88 (Black). One other factor affecting arrest rates is Outstanding Warrants. In these cases, officers have minimal discretion and arrests are typically mandatory. The data indicates that 4 White drivers and 15 Black drivers were arrested on outstanding warrants. Olivette officers continually receive training on bias-based policing, implicit bias and racial profiling. The Olivette Police Department is a professional police organization that is committed to protecting all people, both residents and non-residents, from racial or bias based profiling.