FAYETTEVILLE (AP) — A task force of attorneys says minorities are more likely than whites to be searched during traffic stops in North Carolina.
The Fayetteville Observer reported the trial lawyers’ group, North Carolina Advocates for Justice, reviewed more than 13 million reports on traffic stops between 2000 and 2011.
The group says the state needs a broad-based commission to study racial disparities in traffic stops.
The report said blacks and Hispanics are almost twice as likely to be searched and twice as likely to be arrested as white drivers.
Spokeswoman Noelle Talley says Attorney General Roy Cooper had a productive meeting on the report with the trial lawyers’ group and agreed the issue deserves more study.
She says additional study would include law enforcement, legislators, prosecutors and judges.