Bastrop Police Chief presents 2024 Racial Profiling Report to City Council

The Bastrop City Council meeting on March 11, 2025, featured a significant presentation from the Bastrop Police Department regarding the annual racial profiling report. Police Chief presented the findings, which revealed that the department conducted a total of 3,667 traffic stops in 2024. The report indicated that 11 of these stops, or 0.29%, involved officers who were aware of the driver's race prior to the stop, typically due to prior knowledge of warrants.

The racial breakdown of the traffic stops showed that 51.29% of the drivers were white, 34.19% were Hispanic or Latino, 11.86% were Black, 1.88% were Asian Pacific Islander, and 0.76% were Native American or Alaska Native. The majority of stops were based on moving violations, accounting for 53.31% of the total. Notably, the department reported zero uses of force resulting in bodily injury and received no racial profiling complaints for the year.

The Chief also highlighted that 133 vehicles were searched during these stops, with contraband discovered in over 85% of those searches, primarily drugs. The department has implemented a new feature allowing citizens to request traffic enforcement in their areas of concern through the police department's website.

During the meeting, citizens raised concerns about the meeting's scheduling and the need for civility during public comments. One resident expressed confusion over the meeting start time, while another emphasized the importance of respectful communication between council members and citizens.

Overall, the meeting underscored the police department's commitment to transparency and community engagement, as well as the council's responsiveness to citizen feedback. The next steps include further discussions on the topics raised and continued efforts to enhance community-police relations.