Cultural dialogue

Cape Girardeau police say the local figures in the most recent Missouri attorney general's report on racial profiling can't be trusted. Those figures state that in 2006 black drivers were 74 percent more likely to be pulled over than white drivers in Cape Girardeau. Black drivers in the city were twice as likely as whites to be searched. And all 106 black drivers searched in Cape Girardeau as the result of traffic stops subsequently were arrested.

Police chief Carl Kinnison says his force does not stop black drivers more often than white just because those drivers are black. He points out that the attorney general's figures necessarily include traffic stops of commuter traffic. Comparing traffic stops of black motorists to the city's black populations skews the figures, he says.

Almost any city the size of Cape Girardeau could make the same case.

Black drivers in Jackson were twice as likely to be pulled over as whites, and black drivers in Scott City were nearly 18 times as likely to be pulled over as whites. But the numbers in both Scott City and Jackson are easily exaggerated because both have small black populations. In addition, half of Scott City's stops of black drivers were motorists traveling on Interstate 55.

The Rev. Calvin Bird of Greater Dimension Church in Cape Girardeau thinks the numbers in this report justify a discussion between the police and the community. The Cape Girardeau Police Department has a reputation for being open to discussions about policing and policies. We hope the release of this report will serve as an opportunity to continue that dialogue.