Report: Bias evident in stop-and-frisk practice

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A new report finds evidence of continued racial bias in the stop-and-frisk practices of Philadelphia police despite a 2011 federal consent decree calling for reforms.

The court-ordered report by civil rights lawyers was filed Tuesday in federal court.

It shows a third or more of stops and frisks by Philadelphia police in the first half of 2015 were made without reasonable suspicion. Blacks were the subject of 69
percent of those stops and 57 percent of those frisks even though the population of Philadelphia is only 44 percent black.

What’s more, the analysis found frisks of blacks are considerably less likely to turn up anything than those of whites.

Police officials say the report shows the department has work to do.