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February 28, 2006
2005 RACIAL PROFILING REPORT
The City Council will listen to a report by the Midland Police Department regarding the 2005 Racial Profiling Report. This is the fourth year of the report with the M.P.D. collecting data on all traffic contacts since 2002.
In summary, the numbers reflected that: the percentage of Caucasians and Native Americans that came in contact with police in a traffic related incident where a citation was issued was lower than the comparison percentages; the percentage of African-American and Hispanics, and Asians that came in contact with police in a traffic related incident where a citation was issued was higher than the comparison percentages; the percentage of Caucasians who were searched an/or arrested was lower than the comparison percentages; the percentage of Hispanics and African-Americans who were searched and/or arrested was higher than the comparison percentages; Caucasians were searched at a rate of .57 times more frequently than they were stopped (last year .59 and .62 in 2003); African-Americans were searched at a rate of 2.4 times higher than the rate at which they were stopped (last year 2.4 and 2.6 in 2003); Hispanics were searched at a rate of 1.3 times higher than the rate at which they were stopped (1.16 last year and 1.08 in 2003).
The M.P.D. complies with every requirement of the law. The department assigns and allocates police officers based on calls for service. Calls for service are not categorized by race and ethnicity. The department receives many calls for service in minority and lower socio-economic neighborhoods. The increase number of officers in a particular area increases the number of traffic stops that will be made.
The data does not take into consideration local issues dealing with gangs (multiple and repeat traffic stops/searches), weekly cruising problems on Florida Street, Washington Park (littering, drug use, disorderly conduct), Reyes-Mashburn-Nelms Park (cruising, littering, assaults, disorderly conduct), public nuisance issues in and around the apartment complexes at Neely and Midland Drive, nor the drug problems in the area commonly referred to as “The Flats.” It is a known fact that African-Americans and Hispanics overly represent a majority of contacts in these areas.
Employees continue to attend racial profiling training. The department has equipped all patrol cars with in-car video cameras. The M.P.D. does not condone “exploratory” searches. Since August 1, 2004, officers are required to articulate a reason, in writing, for asking for consent to search. Although not required by law, the department has taken this step to insure consent searches are not conducted because of the public’s lack of understanding of the law and their right to refuse a consent search. If the officer is unable to articulate a reason for the consent request, the officer is not authorized to ask for owner consent to conduct a search.
The department did not receive any complaints alleging racial profiling.
Media Contact: Chief John Urby at 685.7593
2005 TRAFFIC ACCIDENT REPORT
The City of Midland's Traffic Engineering Division has completed the 2005 accident report. A presentation of the annual report will be made to the City Council on Tuesday, February 28, 2006.
The total number of accidents in the City increased .85% from 2,950 in 2004 to 2,975 in 2005.
The number of injuries decreased from 1,008 in 2004 to 885 in 2005.
The number of fatalities decreased from 15 in 2004 to three in 2005.
The number of alcohol/and or drug related accidents increased from 139 in 2004 to 168 in 2005.
There were 10 intersections that had seven or more accidents.
There were no intersections with an M.E.V. (million entering vehicle) rating of 2.0 or above in 2005. This statistic takes into consideration the number of vehicles that travel through the intersection vs. the number of accidents.
The following is a list of the five highest accident intersections (according to M.E.V. rating) in the City of Midland during 2005:
| 1) Midkiff Rd. & Loop 250 N. Srv. Rd. |
1.17 M.E.V. |
| 2) Big Spring St. & Illinois Ave. |
1.17 M.E.V. |
| 3) Big Spring St. & Michigan Ave. |
1.14 M.E.V. |
| 4) Louisiana Ave. & A St. |
1.14 M.E.V. |
| 5) Midkiff Rd. & Wall St. |
0.95 M.E.V. |
The average M.E.V. rating of the intersections listed in the 2005 report is 0.87 compared to 0.93 in 2004 indicating a very low ratio of accidents to traffic volume throughout the City.
Media Contact: Gary Saunders/Transportation Manager at 685.7280
PROMOTION CEREMONY
The Midland Police Department will promote three of its own today. A promotion ceremony will be held on Wednesday, March 1, 2006, at 3:00 p.m. in the third floor conference room at the MPD.
Sergeant Mitch Russell will move to the rank of lieutenant and Officers Ben Chavez and Alfred Grimaldo will move to the rank of sergeant. 36-year-old Russell has been employed by the department for 15 years. He will begin his lieutenant duties in the patrol division. 36-year-old Chavez will work as a patrol sergeant. He has worked for the MPD for 9 years. 26-year-old Grimaldo will work as a patrol sergeant. He has worked for the MPD for 5 years.
The promotions are the result of the retirements of Lieutenant Jim Reynolds and Sergeant Ronnie Bryant.
The media is invited to attend and help make this a special moment for the department.
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