Stop Receipts in Buffalo

On May 25th, 2020, George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis Police Department officers Derek Chauvin, J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane, and Tou Thao. The event sparked a nationwide reckoning on racism, its long history in this country, and its continued and systemic influence in our society. George Floyd's death sparked one of the biggest protest movements in history.

On June 4th, 2020, protestor and peace activist Martin Gugino was shoved to the ground by Buffalo Police Department officers Robert McCabe and Aaron Torgalski. Gugino suffered a serious brain injury, and was hospitalized for four weeks. Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown initally stated that the 75 year-old Gugino was an "agitator."

*Content warning: the below video is graphic in nature*

In the aftermath of the above events, Mayor Byron Brown issued Executive Order 2020-001, outlining a new Police Reform Agenda. Included in EO 2020-001 is a directive for Buffalo Police officers to begin issuing stop receipts.

In order to ensure that the City is doing everything it can to protect the rights of its residents and visitors, I direct the Police Commissioner to require officers to explain to citizens why they are being stopped or pulled over, and document that reason with “stop tickets” each time they have an interaction with the community that is initiated by an officer. This should end unconstitutional stops and increase officer accountability. Our individual rights are paramount to a free society, and the City of Buffalo is committed to protecting those rights for all people.

-Mayor Byron Brown, Executive Order 2020-001

A stop receipt (or ticket) is issued to anyone that has an extended interaction with law enforcement officers. NYPD, Chicago PD, and Milwaukee PD began issuing stop receipts after high profile incidents. The goal of stop receipts is to ensure police officers document their interactions with community members. The conscious action of having to issue stop receipts can help reduce unconscious bias in law enforcement. Community members receive a receipt of the interaction, which creates an extra layer of accountability. Stop receipt data can help show interactions police officers have with community members that often go undocumented, such as stop-and-frisks.

Between June 25th and October 28th, 2020, Buffalo Police Department issued a total of 222 stop receipts. Of the 222 stop receipts issued, only 129 (58%) had a mappable location in the form of an address or a street intersection.

Of the mapped stop receipts (129), Black drivers were issued 76 (59%). Of the unmapped stop receipts (91), Black drivers were issued 73 (80%). 

It should be an extraordinary event in anyone’s life to be stopped by a police officer, and we have seen that for many residents of our community – often in communities of color – it happens far too often. 

-Mayor Byron Brown, Executive Order 2020-001

The stop receipts issued from June 25th-October 28th, 2020, show that Black drivers are disproportionately targeted by Buffalo Police in traffic stops. Of the 222 stop receipts issued, 150 (68%) were issued to Black drivers. Only 37% of Buffalo's residents are Black. Only 41 (18%) of the stop receipts were issued to White drivers; 47% of Buffalo's residents are White. 

Stop receipts will only show the true extent of racial profiling by the Buffalo Police Department if all officers begin issuing stop receipts in both traffic and pedestrian stops. Officers must be mandated to issue stop receipts in all traffic stops, and all pedestrian stops exceeding DeBour Level 2. 

The general public needs to be able to access data pertaining to stop receipts via Open Data Buffalo. Public data from stop receipts should exclude the stopped person’s private information, but data should include sex and race. Stop receipt data should also include geospatial information in the form of an address or street intersection. In order for stop receipts to properly assess racial profiling of all communities in Buffalo, categories for Latinx and Indigenous residents must be added.

To assess the effectiveness of stop receipts, and how the data indicates racial profiling, the City of Buffalo should audit the stop receipt program in Summer 2021. The findings should be presented to community members, the Common Council, and the Buffalo Police Oversight Committee. Auditing stop receipts will help analyze the extent to which policing in Buffalo is fair and equitable. After the initial audit, quarterly assessments of the stop receipt data will continue to provide oversight and accountability.

It should be the responsibility of BPD officers to issue stop receipt documentation to the people they are sworn to protect and serve. If BPD officers continue not issuing stop receipts, a community-driven data collection effort could be launched to collect data regarding undocumented interactions between community members and BPD.

We will continue to analyze, study, and reform police practices in this community to ensure that respect, dignity, and de-escalation are the tools utilized by officers to keep our community safe. 

-Mayor Byron Brown, Executive Order 2020-001