Jones addresses city council on vehicle stops as advocacy group calls for data equity

Columbia-based advocacy organization Race Matters, Friends says it wants the narratives around disproportionate vehicle stops by police to be focused on the communities affected, not just on the numbers reported.

The organization held a meeting Tuesday afternoon prior to a work session by the Columbia City Council about the recently released statewide Vehicle Stops Report. 

Columbia Police Chief Geoff Jones answered questions from city council members Tuesday evening before the council's regular meeting. The conversation included members of the police department's vehicle stops committee.

Previously: Here's what Boone County, Columbia law enforcement reported on the Vehicle Stops Report

Jones highlighted changes undertaken by the department and what its next steps are. 

RMF, for its part, has expressed wanting to see data equity reporting on more than just vehicle stops, but also housing and arrests due to their interconnections.

"Data equity in all facets of the running of (the city) is a necessity, and the presentations on policing, housing and arrests woven together display the connections of these oppressive systems," the organization wrote online.

'Focusing on those left behind'

Disparities are an indication of inequity, said Traci Wilson-Kleekamp, RMF president.

Black residents in Columbia continue to be stopped more than three times as much as their proportion of the population, based on the 2022 report. 

"Equity is not about everybody. It is about focusing on those left behind or in the margins," Wilson-Kleekamp said, referencing the Annie E. Casey Foundation's definition of equity. "Equity involves trying to understand and giving people what they need to enjoy full, healthy lives.

"It is our belief that our city should do an equity assessment of its entire institution, and that includes the police department."

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RMF wants the language around stops to take a different tact, Wilson-Kleekamp said, reading a response to Don Love, a member of Columbia's vehicle stops committee who regularly sends out data analyses when the stops report is issued.

"De-center the police and center it on the people who are targets of policing," she said. "Think about how the people are impacted, not the comfort of police officers."

Jones presents on next steps

The department's vehicle stops committee has offered suggestions to the department on what it can do to address stop disparities.

Jones outlined the suggestions in his presentation to the city council:

Suggestions from the committee include: 

• Holding focus groups with the Black community; 
• Increasing department data collection; and
• De-emphasizing odor-only searches during traffic stops.

Regarding focus groups on race relations, officers "have listened to lived experience of Black community members and Black retired officers," Jones' presentation slides stated, later adding that training to address bias will be a continued priority.

The committee wants to see the police collect more data than required by state law.

"We have adopted most suggestions, unless preempted by state, or we already have the data," Jones' presentation stated, adding those results will start to be seen later this year.

The department already has indicated it will de-emphasize odor-only searches and ask more questions before instigating a probable cause search for narcotics. Police K-9s will no longer be trained on marijuana detection.

Further audits of in-car and body-worn camera footage also are being adopted.

"Patrol supervisors already review all citations issued by their officers," Jones stated in his presentation. "Starting July 1, supervisors will be required to audit all traffic stop videos where searches based on odor or consent are performed."

The department is looking for a different report monitoring system so that police data can eventually be placed in an online, real-time dashboard for public access.

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Ahead of the pre-council meeting, RMF wanted more information on how the department defines investigative stops and the breakdown of those stops.

Jones provided answers in his presentation.

Investigative stops are "those where there is actionable information that there is criminal activity and the officer stops a car for the purpose of taking someone into custody or to investigate further," per a definition in the report.

Eighty-seven of the 473 investigative stops in 2021 were associated with dangerous drugs, while other categories of most common stops were related to outstanding warrants (79) or stolen vehicles (54), according to the report.

"The investigative stops offer no data to suggest these were effective in reducing and mitigating violent crime and their impact on the community," Wilson-Kleekamp said, adding she wants Jones to get away from "us vs. them" phrasing in interactions with the public. "RMF believes CPD is overselling the efficacy of (investigative) stops."

Charles Dunlap covers courts, public safety and other general subjects for the Tribune. You can reach him at cdunlap@columbiatribune.com or @CD_CDT on Twitter. Please consider subscribing to support vital local journalism.