In response to a three-year study that concluded AAPD patrol officers disproportionately pulled over drivers of color for car equipment failures, on June 20 City Council approved a new ordinance to keep police from initiating traffic stops for certain minor offences.

A recently released 41-page report revealed the Ann Arbor Police Dept. shows racial biases in initiating traffic stops. The report, prepared by a team of EMU researchers, states: “Our analysis identified significant disparities across every dimension examined, with non-white motorists being stopped and searched more frequently and white motorists being stopped and searched less frequently than would be expected in every instance.”

Black male drivers were 2.4 times more likely to be pulled over by Ann Arbor police for equipment violations, the study found. The study also concluded Black male drivers were also searched more often.

The city’s Police Oversight Commission and EMU’s Southeast Michigan Criminal Justice Policy Research Project launched the analysis in 2021. Researchers used data produced by the Ann Arbor Police Department for 34,600 traffic stops initiated between 2017 to 2019. The data included officers’ determination of the race and gender of drivers, as well as the reported reasons for stopping the drivers.

FBI Uniform Crime Report Data indicates that Black citizens are 5-8 times more likely to be arrested for non-violent offenses than White citizens in Washtenaw County.

As a result, City Council members brought forward an ordinance to try to end the systemic racial discrimination evident from the traffic stop data analyzed by the EMU researchers.

From the Ordinance: “This ordinance is intended to clarify and direct the appropriate methods and
circumstances for the initiation of traffic stops and the enforcement of traffic violations in order to ensure the equitable, transparent and non-discriminatory administration of traffic stops, eliminate biased stops, prevent racial profiling, protect public safety, and increase public trust in law enforcement.”

Based on a new directive from AAPD Interim Chief of Police Amy Metzer, drivers in Ann Arbor will no longer be pulled over for minor offenses such as a broken tail light or tinted windows. Metzer issued her directive after the first reading of a so-called “Driving Equality Ordinance” passed its first reading at City Council. The second reading and final vote are scheduled for July 6.

“When the second reading occurs on July 6th, I expect that it too will pass with a unanimous vote,” Metzer said in a release in which she stated that her department will make changes immediately.

“In an effort to continue building trust and providing equitable service to all, our department should be seeking ways to keep the community safe without the appearance of disparate treatment. I believe it is the intention of every person within this department to provide fair and impartial service to the City of Ann Arbor. I believe we will be able to continue doing this within these new parameters,” Metzer said.

From the proposed Ordinance: “Limiting secondary traffic stops reduces harmful racial disparities. The harms of traffic stops are not equally felt. More than a quarter of people killed in traffic stops are Black, despite Black people making up only 12 percent of the population.”

Officers have been directed to no longer stop drivers only for minor offenses such as a cracked windshield, loud exhaust, tinted windows, an object hanging from a rearview mirror, a broken tail light or issues with registration stickers and plates.

Citations for minor violations will still be issued via mail, or placed on parked cars by police.