WA traffic stops show racial disparities, per capita, according to WSP report
Washington state lawmakers heard a presentation last week about traffic-stop demographic data from the past three years.
Some were dismayed by the numbers’ portrayal — namely, that the Washington State Patrol (WSP) presentation lacked per-capita context on the disproportionate amount of stops affecting people of color.
WSP Capt. Deion Glover delivered the high-level overview at a Dec. 3 Joint Transportation Committee meeting. From 2022 to 2024, troopers carried out roughly 1.7 million traffic stops, he said.
Glover pointed to a rise in the number of stops over that time, which followed a traffic enforcement slow-down during the pandemic, when the agency was concerned about the dangers COVID posed to employees and the public. The presentation slides stated that increases in total traffic contacts occurred across all demographic groups.
State Sen. Claudia Kauffman noted that the per-capita numbers per 1,000 residents paint a different picture.
“If you look at the per capita, it’s 82 for whites and 154 for blacks,” the Kent Democrat said. “It’s almost double the amount of overall contacts.”
WSP did include per-capita demographic details in its Traffic Stop Demographic Report: 2022–2024, which the agency was required to deliver to the Joint Transportation Committee by Oct. 1. Kauffman pointed out that context wasn’t mentioned during Glover’s presentation to lawmakers.
Washington has logged racial disparities in traffic-stop searches over the years. Between 2018 and 2023, Native Americans were searched at a five-times-higher rate than white residents, according to an InvestigateWest analysis. Historically, Hispanic and Black Washingtonians have also been subject to searches at disproportionate rates.
Other information Kauffman noted was missing from the presentation included the per-capita rates of felony-related traffic contacts categorized by race. WSP’s accompanying slides stated that there’d been growth throughout all demographic groups over three years.
For white people, Kauffman explained, the 2024 per-capita rate of such traffic contacts was 2.5. Yet the number was 9.3 for Black people and 5.9 for Hispanic people.
She pointed to similar trends in the number of infractions issued per capita in 2024 (40.2 for white people, 71.4 for Black people); written traffic warnings (4.9 for white people, 13.1 for Black people); and verbal warnings (32.2 for white people, 55.5 for Black people).
High-discretion searches, when an officer possesses broad judgment in choosing to conduct a search of a property or person, remained rare over the three-year span but grew slightly, WSP’s presentation said.
Kauffman, who is a member of the Nez Perce Tribe, underscored that white people were subjected to high-discretion searches at a 0.05 per-capita rate. For American Indians, she said, the rate was multiple times higher: 0.21.
“This is not new, but this is also a great disparity,” Kauffman said. “And I’m concerned that Washington State Patrol and the presentation you made omitted all this information.”
She asked: Could Glover explain why those points were left out?
Glover insisted that WSP didn’t omit that information, noting that the agency had previously sent lawmakers the full report and that he didn’t intend to trick anyone. He said the numbers were raw data but acknowledged that there are some areas that the agency needs to analyze.
“You’re right,” he said. “Those are definitely some numbers that we need to work on and dig into and learn: Why are these disparities happening?”
State Sen. Javier Valdez expressed disappointment in the presentation, too. In the Seattle Democrat’s view, he said WSP Chief John Batiste should have been at the meeting to either participate or answer questions.
Last session lawmakers considered a bill aimed at mitigating racial disparities in vehicle searches and traffic stops. Valdez sponsored the Senate version, which didn’t receive a hearing.
A companion bill by Democratic state Rep. Chipalo Street of Seattle did get a hearing before stalling out. House Bill 1512 sought to prevent law enforcement officers from using minor maintenance issues, such as a broken taillight, as the main reason to pull someone over.
The upcoming 60-day legislative session kicks off Jan. 12, 2026.
.jpg)