Minority drivers are more likely than white motorists to get pulled over, searched and arrested by Nebraska law enforcement officers, according to ACLU findings reported by the Omaha World-Herald. The report said 22 percent of traffic stops in Omaha were of black drivers, double the African-American population in the city. In Lincoln, where the black population is 3.5 percent of the total, nearly 10 percent of traffic stops were of black drivers.
The ACLU based its findings on data collected by the Nebraska Crime Commission. The report is the third and final one in a series this summer that looked at practices of the state’s law enforcement agencies. Earlier reports found that officers “grossly misused” Tasers and addressed the roadblocks facing people who want to file complaints about law enforcement. The new ACLU report also found that a white driver has a one-in-48 chance of being arrested during a traffic stop, compared with a one-in-13 chance for drivers of color.