Webster Groves Police Dept
The disparity formula is based on the residential population percentage as indicated in the American Community Survey (ACS) Five Year Population Estimate. The total driving population in Webster Groves differs dramatically from that ACS estimate. As an inner-ring City, there is almost 225 miles of streets with Arterial Roads, Laclede Station Road, Big Bend and Brentwood, and Interstate Highway I-44, which are traveled by thousands of drivers living outside the City Limits. Consequently, the disparity rate is highly elevated by a flawed formula and inaccurate data. Only 12% of all 2020 vehicle stops were of residents. The total number of Black Drivers, residents and non- residents, stopped was reduced by 68% in 2020 (down from 2003 to 628). Of residents, Black Drivers were stopped at a rate of less than 1 every 10 days, totaling only 35 Black residents stopped during 2020. The ACS is subject to errors as noted on page 20 of that document. The ACS indicated 3.82% as the Webster Groves Black driving population. Census data from the past nineteen years estimated a population of 5.8 percent. The ACS then, indicates an unlikely decrease in the Black driving population of 28 percent. Regardless, a more accurate measure of driving population would be the 'Spatial Rating' (includes percent from surrounding communities) as noted in the study, ”The Influence of Drivers Race on Traffic Stops in Missouri” Police Quarterly Vol No. 1, March 2004 126-147. That rate would be approximately 6.97 percent.