Profiling board proposes steps to get Wichita’s 51,000 suspended drivers on the road
A Wichita board that studies racial profiling by police is asking the city to expand amnesty and other programs for drivers who have lost their licenses over problems paying fines and court costs associated with minor traffic and technical violations.
Members of the task force, including state Sen. Oletha Faust-Goudeau, D-Wichita, say tens of thousands of motorists are trapped because they can’t pay a ticket and added-on court fees which often have nothing to do with the violations they actually committed. The initial failure to pay leads to license suspensions and an ever-rising debt of late fees and add-on fines that they can never pay.
They’re proposing several actions by the city and state, including:
▪ Expansion of amnesty programs to discount court costs, late fees and other add-ons, coupled with access to payment programs where drivers can pay off their original fines over time. Faust-Goudeau is working for a bill in the Legislature that would expand well-attended local “amnesty day” events to amnesty weeks and to guarantee access to amnesty programs throughout the state.
▪ Starting a “voucher program” for equipment violations to help low-income drivers correct common defects such as a blown-out headlight bulbs or tail lights. Instead of a citation and possible fine, they’d receive a voucher — funded by private donations — that they could take to a mechanic to get the problem fixed. Currently, drivers can have a fix-it ticket dismissed if they correct the problem within 10 days, but many low-income motorists often don’t have the cash on hand, task force members said.
▪ Loosening the requirements for people whose licenses have been suspended to obtain restricted permits that allow them to drive to and from work, school and medical and state appointments. Currently, those programs are not available to persons convicted of driving with a suspended license, although many people don’t know their license is suspended until they’re pulled over, Faust-Goudeau said.
▪ Publicize a program, passed by the Legislature earlier this year, that allows motorists who can’t afford fines and court costs to apply to work off their debt through community service.
“Why wouldn’t we want to do that?” Faust-Goudeau said. “This stuff just baffles me.”
The Wichita Racial Profiling Advisory Board was originally created through a state law aimed at reducing disparities in policing between majority and minority populations.
However, that official responsibility has since been taken over by a Citizen Review Board appointed by the city manager, whose primary duty is to assist the police department in policy development and community outreach.
Because the profiling board is no longer officially recognized by the city, two of its leaders had to request time during the regular “public comment” period of Tuesday’s meeting to get their findings and recommendations before the council.
Board chairwoman Sheila Officer called license suspension a “regressive system” that “perpetuates and criminalizes poverty” while doing little to nothing to improve public safety.
“It is a system driven by dollars,” she said.
“Without a driver’s license, it makes it impossible to obtain and maintain employment,” Officer said. “Businesses lose, families lose. It is a potential exposure to the criminal justice system, because we do know that when you’re not able to pay, then it acquaints you with the criminal justice system, whether it is additional fines and fees or incarceration.”
Walt Chappell, a former state Board of Education member who now serves as vice chairman of the racial profiling board, urged City Hall to “stop giving out ‘gotcha’ tickets.”
Chappell said his analysis of police and Municipal Court data shows that about 51,400 Wichitans have had their license suspended for non-payment of traffic fines or court fees.
He praised police Chief Gordon Ramsay for reducing the number of tickets written and for focusing traffic enforcement more on accident prone intersections and streets. Since the chief has been hired, tickets have dropped by about 10,000 per year, from roughly 52,000 issued in 2016 to 42,000 in 2018, he said.
However, when African-American motorists are stopped by police, they are still “more than twice as likely to be issued one or more citations at each traffic stop,” Chappell said.
“What has become very clear is that many of these stops end up with citations for non-moving violations,” he said.
Examples he gave include tag violations, driver’s license violations, insurance violations and equipment defects such as burned out headlights and tail lights.
“Those have very little to do with safety,” he said.
Caucasian and Hispanic drivers were more likely to be cited for more hazardous moving violations such as speeding, illegal turns and running stop signs, he said.
The Wichita Police Department issued a statement disputing Chappell’s numbers, saying a preliminary review “showed discrepancies and inaccuracies,” although the statement did not specify what those were.
“We appreciate and encourage outside reviews of our department to ensure transparency and that we are operating among best practices,” the statement said. “However, disparities in traffic stops alone does not constitute bias and many additional factors have to be included.”
The department said it will conduct a further review of Chappell’s data.
“After a final and accurate analysis of the data, WPD will seek a third-party review by asking Wichita State University Dr. Michael Birzer, a world-renowned expert in racial profiling, to review the data and provide input,” the statement said. “The WPD will meet with Dr. Birzer after he has developed his conclusions.”
Wichita’s police union, Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 5, issued a statement saying it “looks forward to reviewing the traffic citation analysis that is to be conducted by the Wichita Police Department and Dr. Birzer.”
The union statement said the FOP is confident that “the results will show, taken in context . . . that our members are conducting themselves ethically and honorably at all times while enforcing the traffic laws of the City of Wichita.”
This story was originally published December 10, 2019 at 3:10 PM.
