Contacts Between Police & the Public

The following statistics come from the ACLU of Illinois report "Traffic Stop Consent Searches Across the State of Illinois and by the Illinois State Police," (July 23, 2008).

Rates of Consent
When Illinois State Police troopers requested consent to search, motorists of all races granted consent at nearly the same rate. Specifically, the rates that motorists grant consent to search are: 93.9% for white motorists; 96.0% for African-American motorists; and 96.4% for Hispanic motorists.

State of Illinois likelihood of consent search and hit rates (by race)
Taking the State of Illinois as a whole, African-American and Hispanic motorists are about 2½ to 3½ times more likely that white motorists to be subjected to consent searches, and when such searches are performed they are only about one-half as likely as white motorists to be found in possession of contraband.