(Raleigh News Observer) The North Carolina chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union announced a new campaign Tuesday that it hopes will combat racial profiling in police traffic stops in the state.
The ACLU’s N.C. Legal Foundation is asking motorists to report incidents where they think police targeted them or treated them differently because of their race.
The campaign comes on the heels of a recent report by a UNC-Chapel Hill professor who found that African American drivers are 77 percent more likely than white drivers to be searched after a traffic stop, while Hispanic drivers are 96 percent more likely than white drivers to be searched, according to the ACLU.
ACLU-North Carolina says the documentation will help with its public education and lobbying efforts as well as possible litigation. The civil rights organization says it has spent years investigating reports of racial profiling and racially biased traffic checkpoints and recently helped the Winston-Salem Police Department adopt new guidelines for conducting motor vehicle checkpoints.
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