Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo said the numbers don't paint an accurate picture because minorities more often live in areas where police are more alert because there is more crime.
"If I have more resources in an area that has high crime, and an area where the largest population pockets are minorities, I think it would stand to reason that you have more contacts, and out of more contacts you have more searches," Chief Acevedo said.
APD calls finding illegal contraband a "hit." While more minorities are being searched, the APD "hit rate" is almost equal across the board among white, blacks and Hispanics--around 30 percent.
"Once they are stopped, that the quest to search perhaps is heightened when we're talking about blacks and Hispanics, and that's concerning to me," Austin Police Monitor Margot Frasier said.
YNN spoke to one man in East Austin who did not want to be named. He shared a story of what he called and an “unlawful stop.” He said three Hispanic kids were walking on the sidewalk in East Austin when police lights activated and the kids were questioned by officers.
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