Pflugerville police present 2024 racial‑profiling report; analysts warn data limits, show higher search rate for Black motorists

Pflugerville Police presented the city's 2024 racial‑profiling data report at a Feb. 2025 work session, saying the dataset contains useful information on post‑stop outcomes but lacks a valid indicator of the driving population and therefore limits conclusions about profiling. Dr. Eric Fritch of the University of North Texas and Justice Research Consultants led the analysis; Chief Jason O'Malley and Commander Jared Tyson joined him for questions from council members.

The report analyzes 6,415 traffic stops recorded by Pflugerville officers in calendar year 2024. "About 60% of your stops in 2024 were not residents of the City of Pflugerville," Dr. Fritch told the council, drawing attention to what he and other presenters called a core limitation for city‑level comparisons: many stopped motorists are not city residents, and no reliable local driving‑population denominator exists.

Why that matters: the Texas reporting framework requires agencies to compare stop data by race or ethnicity to population figures. Analysts said using city or county resident populations can be misleading for a community with high daytime through‑traffic. The presenters told the council they used 2020 census figures and year‑over‑year comparisons (2021–2024) to track consistency over time but cautioned against overstating conclusions from the stop counts alone.

On outcomes, the report shows 49% of stops ended with a written warning and 10% with a verbal warning; 35% resulted in citations and 6% in arrests. Dr. Fritch summarized searches and post‑stop findings: "About 7.5% of your stops resulted in a search. Of the white motorists that were stopped, 5.8% were searched. Of the Black motorists that were stopped, 12.2% were searched." Presenters said searches were often supported by probable cause or were incident to arrest; the latter category made up more than one‑third of searches, which analysts noted can distort discretionary‑search comparisons.

Search hit rates: the report combines search types and finds contraband discovered in 48% of all searches. Consent searches were rare (48 consent searches across the sample) and produced contraband in roughly 25% of those cases; probable‑cause searches (206) found contraband about 77% of the time. Council members and presenters discussed how those rates compare with national averages and whether officer training and selection of probable cause explain the high hit rate.

Council concerns and staff direction: several council members asked for more granular front‑end data to explain disparities. One councilmember said the public will see higher citation or search percentages for Hispanic or Black motorists and asked for information that could clarify whether those rates reflect underlying driving behavior or discretionary decisions. Chief O'Malley confirmed the department can extract citation reason codes from records and said staff will provide that information in future reporting. Dr. Fritch and city staff also agreed the department should add a field to track when officers request consent to search and whether consent was given or declined, because current systems do not capture that reliably.

Oversight and review: presenters described internal oversight used by Pflugerville Police. Supervisors review officer‑level activity and body‑worn and in‑car video; sergeants sign off on reviews and lieutenants provide additional checks. Chief O'Malley told the council: "Since I've been chief, we have not had... one incident where we thought someone was going that route," referring to deliberate, targeted stops based on race. He said the department will continue monitoring and discipline if warranted.

Complaint and reporting notes: the department received no complaints alleging racial profiling in 2024, the presenters said. The analysts also noted that statewide reporting has existed since about 2009 but that data quality and completeness vary by agency; Pflugerville's submission is part of a required statewide process under Texas law.

Body‑camera and recording procedures: staff told the council that officers' body cameras and in‑car cameras automatically begin recording when patrol lights are activated; Axon systems also synchronize cameras across agencies at shared scenes. Presenters said this recording requirement supports supervisory review and evidentiary checks.

Nut graf: The Pflugerville report provides a year of department activity and detailed post‑stop outcomes, but analysts and council members emphasized the limits of city‑level comparisons when a large share of stopped drivers are nonresidents. Council members requested that future reports add reasons for citations and track consent‑search requests and declines so the public and council can better understand whether disparities arise from behavior the SOP requires to be cited or from discretionary choices by officers.

The department and consultants said they will include additional front‑end fields in subsequent reports and continue officer‑level peer reviews and body‑camera audits to monitor disparities. No formal action or vote occurred at the work session; the presentation was informational and will inform future reporting and internal review.