The racial grass gap hasn’t narrowed a bit.
Though studies have found similar marijuana usage rates across racial groups, 78 percent of those arrested since August 2012 for carrying small amounts of pot were black, according to police department data. Another 17 percent were Hispanic, and just 4 percent were white—virtually the same breakdown as before the new possession ordinance went into effect.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s press office did not respond to a request for comment. But a police spokesman says the department is making “continued progress” in moving toward a ticketing system.
“You’ve got aldermen and other people demanding that we stop crime, but the only response we really have is to flood the area and stop everybody who walks down the street,” says another longtime officer assigned to a troubled area. “The commander and the lieutenant say, ‘Get the fuck over there and start beating the bushes and find out what’s going on.’ And this is what happens.”
Finally, in 2012, Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced his support for a modest reform measure that gave police the option of issuing possession tickets.
The ordinance passed by a 43-3 vote.
