Decatur police present annual racial-profiling report: 6,546 stops recorded; two force incidents, no profiling complaints

The City of Decatur received its required annual racial profiling report covering Jan. 2024 through Dec. 2024 at the Feb. 24 City Council meeting. The police department reported 6,546 total stops in the period and said the number of stops had declined compared with prior years.

The report was presented under the statutory requirement that municipalities provide an annual racial profiling analysis. "This is our annual racial profiling report that we're required, every single year to give," said the police department representative during the presentation. The presenter told council the department would compare the data against local demographics and plans to present trend comparisons from the prior two to three years next year.

Why it matters: Texas statute requires local law enforcement to report stop-level data and an accompanying analysis so city leaders and the public can monitor trends and complaints related to racial profiling.

According to the presentation, the department emphasized that in most stops the officer did not know a person’s race or ethnicity prior to the stop; only a small number of stops listed race as known before the stop, often when officers were dispatched with suspect descriptions. The presenter said the majority of individuals stopped were recorded as white, and cautioned that Decatur’s location on two major thoroughfares means traffic encounters include many nonresidents.

The report summarized how stops concluded — citations, documented warnings (the department intentionally avoids verbal warnings to ensure documentation) and searches. The presenter explained probable cause searches occur when officers observe contraband or detect odors indicating alcohol or drugs, or when prior call information provides a suspect description. The department tracks how often searches return contraband as a check on probable-cause practices.

On use-of-force, the presentation said there were two incidents in which physical force was used during stops in 2024; in those incidents injuries were reported to suspects and not to officers. The department reported zero complaints alleging racial profiling for the year.

Council members did not take formal action on the item during the meeting; the report was presented and discussed. The presenter invited questions and said staff would bring trend comparisons to a future meeting for further review.

Ending: Council thanked staff for the report. The department indicated it will provide comparative trend data next year to illuminate any upward or downward deviations over multiple years.