Law Enforcement

A new report released today by Attorney General Chris Koster shows that "black motorists were 70 percent more likely than white drivers to be stopped by police last year -- and twice as likely as Hispanic drivers."

"These findings continue a disturbing trend for African-American drivers in Missouri," reads the report's executive summary.

Read the full report here.

UPDATE: Jason Rosenbaum of Missouri Lawyers Weekly has posted an excerpt from Koster's press conference.

Yesterday on Meet the Press, White House counterterrorism chief John Brennan said that Kit Bond and three other GOP leaders were personally briefed on Christmas night about the arrest of accused underwear bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, and that none of them raised objections. CQ Politics' Political Wire summarizes:

White House counterterrorism chief John Brennan revealed on Meet the Press that he briefed four Republican congressional leaders [Bond, Mitch McConnell, John Boehner and Peter Hoekstra] on Christmas night about the arrest of the "underwear bomber" and the handling of the case.

It's always somewhat surprising (and always sad) the way bits of racism creep into our daily lives:

Statewide data indicates that African-American drivers were 67 percent more likely than Hispanic drivers to be stopped in 2008, despite being 15 percent less likely to be arrested following the stop.

"The increasing rates at which African-American drivers are stopped are of concern to all Missourians," Koster said. "While no single factor can provide the entire explanation for these numbers, one goal remains fixed -- application of the law must be colorblind."

Koster noted that the report contains information on vehicle stops from 639 law enforcement agencies, so each individual community can examine its own data and situation. For example, it is helpful to compare departments of a similar size or from similar geographic areas. Additionally, factors such as crime patterns or the existence of an interstate highway in a given region may affect data samples.

The executive summary and full report with data for individual law enforcement agencies can be found online at http://ago.mo.gov.