FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. (WXYZ) — Days after coming under fire for use of shooting targets depicting Black men, a local police force is again being questioned — this time over data involving traffic stops.
Drivers 7 Action News talked to say they are extremely troubled by recent statistics involving police traffic stops in Farmington Hills.
“African American men are being targeted for no particular reason,” one driver expressing outrage said.
According to the city’s statistics for 2022, while the city’s population is 18.2% African American, the percentage of citations given to African American drivers is more than double at 40.37%, or 813 total.
One driver said in response, “People who live in Farmington Hills definitely have a right to question it.”
Another driver told us, “It just shouldn’t be that way. Crime is crime, but it’s not based on race.”
City Councilman Michael Bridges says the data also shows white people make up 59.1% of the city but get only 50.82%, or 1,029 total, of the citations.
Also, less than 10% of the police force is African-American. And when it comes to making arrests, the numbers are even more disturbing.
“Arrest records, latest numbers are about 58% of people arrested in our city are African Americans,” Bridges said.
Attorney Wolf Mueller spent decades investigating alleged misconduct in law enforcement and says, “When you have this type of insidious racism, you have a problem that needs to be looked at by an outside agency.”
City Manager Gary Mekjian issued a statement Friday in response to our story that reads partly:
“City council, City Administration and Farmington Hills Police take this topic very seriously and are well aware of the data provided on the transparency dashboard… This is raw data. We are working on a strategy to analyze the data in an effort to better understand the statistics…”
The city is also reviewing its police department’s use of shooting targets depicting African American men that led to a recent apology by the chief of police.
“I’ll take this one on the chin. I apologize,” the police chief said at a recent public meeting.
The police chief, mayor and city manager all declined to talk on camera Friday. We’ll stay on this to keep pursuing accountability.
