Illinois traffic stops of Black drivers reach a 20-year high

The Investigative Project launched with the publication of its inaugural investigation, the first installment of a series, “Profiled: The State of Traffic Stops in Illinois,” published in partnership with WBEZ Chicago.

In 2003, Illinois passed a measure sponsored by then-state Sen. Barack Obama to gather details of every police stop in the state, including the driver’s race or ethnicity. On the 20th anniversary of that law’s passage, the Investigative Project and WBEZ assembled and analyzed 42.5 million records of traffic stop data that were collected under the law, covering more than 1,000 jurisdictions across Illinois.

Among the findings:

• The racial gap is widening. In the last two years, stops involving Black drivers have topped 30.5% of all traffic stops statewide, up from 17.5% in 2004, the first year data was released. The state’s adult population is 13.6% Black.

• The problem is statewide. In Chicago, stops of Black drivers in 2022 were more than four times that of white drivers, even though the city has a larger white adult population. In the rest of the state, Black drivers make up 9.5% of the adult population but 21.5% of all traffic stops outside of Chicago.

• Police increasingly fail to comply with the law. Last year, 1 in 5 law enforcement agencies failed to submit their traffic stop data as required by the law. Some missed the state’s deadline or submitted incomplete data.

• Efforts to strengthen the law have failed. The oversight board established by the Illinois General Assembly to monitor data collection and recommend improvements, at one point, went seven years without meeting. Today, the board has vacant seats and often lacks a quorum to take action.