City of Bryan receives 2024 racial-profiling analysis for Bryan Police Department

A consultant for the City of Bryan presented the police department's 2024 racial-profiling analysis and summarized stop outcomes, searches and complaints at the council workshop.

The report, prepared by Dr. Eric Fritsch of Justice Research Consultants LLC, covered about 15,890 traffic stops in calendar year 2024 and examined stop outcomes (warnings, citations, arrests), searches and complaints in the format required by the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure and Texas Commission on Law Enforcement reporting standards.

Dr. Eric Fritsch, principal researcher for Justice Research Consultants LLC, told the council the analysis follows state law and TCLE reporting guidance and focuses on comparative analysis by outcome rather than raw stop counts. He told council members that a core limitation of the statewide data is that officers rarely know a motorist's race or ethnicity before a stop'in Bryan PD data that was true 97 percent of the time in 2024 and roughly 96'to 97 percent statewide in prior years. Because of that, the report looks at outcomes after officers have made contact rather than trying to compare stop counts directly to the general population.

The report found that in 2024 roughly 60 percent of traffic stops in Bryan resulted in a verbal or written warning, about one-third resulted in citations, and written warnings accounted for about 8 percent of stops. Arrests were less common overall but showed greater variability by race: among white motorists stopped, about 3 percent were arrested; among Black motorists stopped, about 12 percent were arrested, the report said. When arrests occurred, the two most common reasons recorded were probable-cause offenses (about 41 percent of arrests) and outstanding warrants (about one-third of arrests).

Searches occurred on about 6.7 percent of stops. Of searches, roughly 60 percent were described as based on probable cause and about 30 percent were incident to arrest. Consent searches were rare: 107 consent searches out of 15,890 stops (less than 1 percent of stops, and about 10 percent of all searches). Contraband was recovered in about half of searches; drugs accounted for roughly three-quarters of contraband discoveries.

The department received one complaint in 2024 alleging racial profiling; the internal investigation found the complaint unfounded, the report showed.

Councilmembers asked clarifying questions about denominators and categories used in the report. Dr. Fritsch explained that most analyses use the number of stops by racial group as the denominator (for example, percent of stopped motorists of a given race who were arrested) and that census population comparisons have limited value because officers rarely know race or ethnicity prior to a stop. Councilmembers also asked whether the stop records capture specific traffic reasons (speeding, equipment violations); Dr. Fritsch said the reporting system captures broader categories (vehicle traffic violations, equipment violations, violation of law, or preexisting knowledge) but not the precise offense in every record.

The council did not take formal action on the report during the workshop. The presentation concluded with the chief introducing the consultant and the council thanking the presenter.

The council packet will include the consultant's report; staff said copies are available for council members.