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#BikingWhileBlack: Disturbing New Report Finds Black Tampa Bike Riders 73% More Likely to get Pulled Over, Ticketed

Posted byBy Ricky Riley | Published on: CommentsComments (0)

 

A new report from the Community Oriented Policing Services with the U.S. Department of Justice states that Black bike riders in Tampa, Florida are 73 percent more likely to get pulled over by officers, compared to whites at 26 percent.

The report is based on data collected between January 1, 2014 and August 30, 2015, which shows that 73 percent of the bikers stopped were Black.

According to local reports from Florida’s WFLA, the Tampa police were cracking down on bike riders in an attempt to curve the spike of bike thefts in the city. However, community activists and the COPS believed that the findings show racist policing.

“The team found that the bicycle stops were not effective in reducing crime. They were not effective in recovering stolen bicycles or preventing bicycle thefts, and they were not really effective in increasing bicycle safety,” said COPS Office Director Ronald Davis in a press conference on Tuesday.

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