Criminal justice and policing

In August 2014, the shooting of African-American teenager Michael Brown in the black-majority city of Ferguson, Missouri by a white police officer on duty quickly captured the entire country’s attention. Residents, long aware of the existing tensions between the community and a police force that no longer represents their racial and ethnic makeup, protested the excessive use of force by police and demanded greater accountability from police departments.

This report responds to recent nation-wide tension between police departments and their communities by analyzing the diversity of the police force. It finds that minorities are still underrepresented in law-enforcement.

A collaboration between various agencies, this report provides data on traffic stops within Connecticut, as mandated by a 2012 public act. The goal of the report is to increase dialogue between citizens and law enforcement.