LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — The head of the Louisville Urban League said Thursday he's appalled and frustrated with new data showing racial disparities in Louisville Metro Police stops and searches.
The numbers show racial disparities have gotten worse since 2023, when federal investigators found LMPD had a pattern and practice of discriminating against Black people.
Internal records obtained by WDRB showed Metro Police officers searched Black drivers more than twice as often as white drivers last year and were less likely to find anything illegal when they did.
The data, drawn from a report produced by Sigma Squared — a data firm LMPD hired for $350,000 — found Black drivers were searched 133% more often than white drivers overall. When controlling for similar factors such as age and location, the disparity narrowed but persisted: Black drivers were still searched 66% more often than white drivers in comparable situations.
The report also found discretionary searches of Black drivers produced an 11% lower hit rate — meaning officers found illegal items less often — compared to searches of white drivers in similar circumstances. The report's own language described the pattern as reflecting "inefficient and potentially biased discretionary search decisions."
Chief Paul Humphrey said his officers are not discriminating, and is using the report for training. He said the stops and searches are constitutional, and the numbers reflect where violent crime ins concentrated. But LUL President Lyndon Pryor said that's not the full picture.
"That is what people tend to read into it," Pryor said. "Well, because of this disproportionality over here, then it would make sense that we need to be stopping and searching this population more. Because they are more inherently likely to be the perpetrators of said crime. That, I think, is a really bad place to be in when it comes to policing."
WDRB's Gilbert Corsey took part in a podcast with Pryor on Thursday. You can find the episode by clicking here.
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