Your State May Be Eligible for up to $1.15 Million to Address Racial Disparities in Traffic Enforcement

Nationally, Black drivers are stopped by police more frequently than White drivers even after accounting for factors such as motorist behavior. An underutilized federal funding source can help states and their local counterparts address this and other inequities stemming from traffic stop policies and practices.  

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) grants up to $1.15 million per year to eligible states to reduce racial profiling in traffic stops. This funding is intended to help local police departments that want to reduce racial profiling in traffic stops but may not have the funding or data necessary to effect lasting change. States are eligible for this funding either by passing a law that prohibits racial profiling and requires police officers to collect data on the driver’s race for all traffic stops or by assuring that they will prohibit profiling and collect this data as part of their application for BIL funding. 

States have used this funding to: 

• Build consensus for change among policymakers, law enforcement leaders, community members, and advocates; 
• Standardize the metrics and methodology used to assess racial bias in traffic stops, allowing for the creation of data-driven early warning systems, and leading to greater transparency and law enforcement accountability; and  
• Address disparities, reduce unnecessary police contact, and minimize the chance of escalation. 

For example, Connecticut leaders have used these dollars to successfully intervene in 28 municipal police departments, where some jurisdictions have seen upwards of a 20 percent decrease in instances of racial profiling in traffic stops. Check out our recent webinar for more information about the strategy they used. 

If your state is interested in learning more about using BIL funding to address racial disparities in traffic enforcement, contact Deputy Division Director Ernest Stevens at estevens@csg.org.