GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A report showing black drivers are twice as likely to be pulled over in Grand Rapids has city leaders and the police chief looking at what to do next.
The study looked at three years of data provided by the city and found the rates at which blacks and Hispanics are pulled over far by Grand Rapids Police Department officers exceeds that of white drivers.
For many, there’s nothing new about the findings. In 2004, the city commissioned a study that essentially found black drivers were not pulled over at a far greater rate than whites. In the minority community, it was greeted with a communal eye roll. The new study had some changes in data collection and the difference was remarkable.
“It’s really a confirmation to what this community knew for years,” Kent County Commissioner Robert S. Womack, D-Grand Rapids, said.
He was among about 100 people who attended a community meeting on Tuesday evening at the LINC UP Gallery on Madison Avenue SE to discuss the study.
“I think troubled and disappointed are two of the best words” to describe the findings of the study, Grand Rapids City Manager Greg Sundstrom said.
There will be three more community meetings Wednesday at which people can question consultants and city leaders about the study results and methodology:
4:00 p.m.Michigan First Credit Union1815 Breton Road SE
5:30 p.m.Rockford Construction601 First St. NW
7:30 p.m.GRPS University1400 Fuller Ave. NE