In 2023, the University of Illinois Police Department conducted 2,526 traffic stops — 19% lower than traffic stops made five years ago and nearly half of the 4,701 traffic stops recorded a decade ago. 

But Black and Asian drivers still made up nearly half of the drivers stopped in 2023, the last full year of data available.

Racial disparities in traffic stops have been an issue throughout the nation for decades, and Illinois introduced a bill in 2003 to collect statewide traffic stop data to identify racial bias in the form of a study. In 2019, the study was extended under Public Act 101-0024.

While summaries of the data are uploaded to the Illinois Department of Transportation website, WBEZ and the Investigative Project on Race and Equity obtained two decades’ worth of the full, downloadable data from police departments across the state. The newsrooms made the comprehensive database available to the public through interactive visualizations where one can view specific police agencies.

Overall, since 2014, the university department has reported over 29,000 stops, which showed Black and Asian drivers being stopped at proportionally higher rates than their population sizes.

University of Illinois Police Captain Jason Bradley acknowledged the disparities in an interview with CU-CitizenAccess. Bradley described traffic stops as largely discretionary based on the individual circumstances of each stop and didn’t provide insight on underlying causes.

The department requires patrol sergeants to review body and in-car camera footage multiple times a month to actively seek out and address issues. Lieutenant Nathaniel Park said there is “constant monitoring” in the department’s operations and it doesn’t “just sit there waiting for something to come to us.”

Although the department is aware of the racial disparities in the data submitted to the state, Bradley said there is no specific measure or initiative to address potential issues or bias in traffic stops outside of existing policy. 

U.S. Census Bureau data from 2020 shows Black people make up about 14% of Champaign County, yet Black drivers made up 22% of people stopped by university police in the last 10 years — yet the proportion of Black drivers stopped in recent years has been even greater.

Similarly, Asian people made up 12% of the county’s population in 2020, but account for 22.3% of drivers stopped.

In 2023, 27% of drivers stopped by university police were Black, 43% were white, 22% were Asian and 7% were Hispanic. 

The proportion of Hispanic and Latino drivers stopped last year is slightly greater than the 10-year proportion, while the proportion of white drivers decreased.

The proportions of these racial disparities recently peaked in 2021 when white drivers made up about 38% of people pulled over. Black drivers made up 31% the same year, which has slightly decreased to about 27% in 2023.

Warnings, citations similarly drop but disparity remains

There are two main outcomes from traffic stops: written warnings or citations.

A citation is a ticket or a document issued by law enforcement explaining that a driver committed a traffic offense. Citations can result in a fine, a court appearance or may go on the driver’s record.

A written warning is a formal notice from law enforcement due to a minor traffic violation. Unlike citations, written warnings do not result in fines, penalties or court dates. 

Overall, university police have issued 6,185 citations and 23,179 written warnings since 2014, indicating a preference for warnings.

The number of citations and written warnings per year has decreased since 2014, although written warnings have remained the more common outcome. The number of warnings has remained above 1,900 annually since 2021.

Bradley said this shift can be attributed to increased call loads due to growing demands in campus policing and the generational shift in policing attitudes with younger officers.

“As of today we are much busier as an agency than we were in 2014. Our calls for service are higher,” Bradley said. “Our responsibilities with the Campustown, with our bar growth, with the multi-family type of residential units we’ve seen gone up in the past 10 years has really increased our call loads.” 

Of the written warnings issued by the department, white and Asian drivers receive the most. White drivers received 51.2% of written warnings, while Asian drivers received the second-highest percentage at 23%.

White and Black drivers make up the largest percentage of citations given by the department over the past decade. 

White drivers received 39.5% of citations and Black drivers received 29.2% of citations. Asian drivers received 24.4% and Hispanic drivers got 6.7%.