Report Lists Top Reasons Why Bethel Police Officers Pull Over Your Vehicle

A recent report by the Connecticut Racial Profiling Prohibition Project found that the Bethel Police Department conducted 3,712 traffic stops from Oct. 1, 2013 through Sept. 30, 2014.

The reasons a Bethel police officer is likely to pull you over include: 38.7 percent for speeding infractions; 10.5 percent for cell phone offenses, 7.1 percent for defective lights, 2.2 percent; display of plates, 0.3 percent; equipment violation, 3.4 percent; moving violation, 6 percent; registration offense, 1.5 percent; seatbelts, 16.7 percent; stop signs, 0.4 percent; suspended license, 8.5 percent; failure to obey traffic control signals, 1.1 percent; window tint and 6.5 percent; other.

The town had one of the highest speeding stop rates among all municipal departments.

According to the report, among the 3,712 stops, officers gave a ticket 27.42 percent of the time, a written warning 55.74 percent of the time and a verbal warning 13.31 percent of the time.

Of Bethel’s total traffic stops 4.69 percent are for Black drivers and 75.86 percent of those stops involve non-residents, according to the report. Hispanics account for 11.66 percent of Bethel’s traffic stops and 75.52 percent of those involve non-residents, the report states.

Overall, 1,371 resident stops were made in Bethel with 12.62 percent of these stops accounting for minority residents. Bethel’s minority population comprises 13.49 percent of its total population that is of legal driving age.

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