Fairfield Cops Dispute Traffic Stop Report's Findings On Race

FAIRFIELD, CT — The Fairfield Police Department is speaking out against a soon-to-be-released report, arguing its conclusion that there is a disparity in the number of minorities subject to traffic stops in town was reached using data that does not accurately reflect the population of drivers in Fairfield.

The analysis of 2017 traffic stop statistics by the Institute for Municipal and Regional Policy "claims to have found a disparity in the number of minorities stopped in several communities, including Fairfield," a police department news release stated. The report is expected to be released Tuesday morning, according to an institute official. Fairfield police made 8,320 traffic stops during the timeframe of the report, the department news release stated.

The department takes issue with the methodology used in the report. The traffic stop data is analyzed against the town's 2010 census demographics, according to the news release.

"We strongly believe that Fairfield's driving population is inconsistent with census demographics thus creating a statistical disparity, not a racial disparity," the news release stated.

The department cited Fairfield's commercial activity on Route 1, Black Rock Turnpike and areas near the Bridgeport border as factors that affect the demographics of the town's driving population in comparison to its census demographics. An official with the institute that conducted the analysis stated that the report's findings are not based on comparison to census data.

"The department's characterization of our research methodology is not accurate," Project Manager Ken Barone stated in an email.

The Institute for Municipal and Regional Policy is housed in the Office of Institutional Advancement at Central Connecticut State University.

Fairfield police are working to strengthen their argument that the town's driver demographics differ from its 2010 census demographics by using technology, including license-plate recognition system data, in some census tracts in Fairfield, according to the news release.