Officers working in Falcon Heights, the Twin Cities suburb where Philando Castile was shot to death during a traffic stop last week, have been disproportionately arresting black people.
The suburb, which is 73 percent white and just eight percent black, contracts with the St. Anthony Police Department for policing services. Officers also work in the neighboring suburbs of Lauderdale and St. Anthony, which are both five percent black. But according to an Associated Press analysis of department data, almost half the the people arrested so far this year in those three communities are black. And while the area’s demographics have mostly held steady since 2011, the percentage of black arrestees has steadily increased during that same time frame.
Before Castile was pulled over, St. Anthony officer Jeronimo Yanez radioed that he believed he had cause to stop Castile’s car because his “wide set nose” suggested he might have been one of the suspects involved in an armed robbery took place in Lauderdale the day before. Castile, who was legally carrying a firearm, was shot during his interaction with Yanez. His girlfriend live streamed video of the tragic aftermath from the passenger seat.
Housing, Race, And Police Stops: The Backstory To Philando Castile’s KillingEconomy by CREDIT: AP Photo/Joe Danborn Last week, the internet watched a Facebook live video of Philando Castile’s…thinkprogress.orgCastile, 32, was reportedly pulled over 52 times between 2002 and his death. About half of the 86 violations assessed against him were ultimately dismissed, and he was never convicted of anything more serious than a misdemeanor. According to the AP analysis, citations written by the St. Anthony cops aren’t as racially skewed as the arrest data — 12 percent of the citations issued by the department since 2011 have been to black people.
Last week, ThinkProgress documented how one Falcon Heights resident tried to raise concerns about the performance of St. Anthony cops to the department’s chief less than two years before Castile’s death. But Joe Olson — a gun expert, former law professor, and former member of the Falcon Heights Fire Department — said he wasn’t taken seriously.
Nationwide, blacks are arrested at higher rates than whites, though the disparity is nowhere near as severe as in the Falcon Heights area. In 2010, America was 72 percent white and 13 percent black, but blacks accounted for 28 percent of all arrests.