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Tomball Police report: 16,729 traffic stops in 2025; searches rare and largely probative, chief says
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Summary
Chief Burke told council that in 2025 the Tomball Police Department conducted 16,729 traffic stops, searched fewer than 2% of stopped vehicles with ~60% of searches yielding contraband, reported two incidents involving physical force, and received no racial-profiling complaints; council approved the annual data report.
TOMBALL, Texas ' At the Feb. 16 City Council meeting the Tomball Police Department presented its 2025 annual data capture and racial-profiling report required by state law. Chief Burke summarized traffic-stop activity and search outcomes and answered council questions before the council approved the report.
Key findings cited by Chief Burke:
- Total traffic stops in 2025: 16,729. - In 99.37% of stops, officers did not know the driver's race before stopping the vehicle. - Searches occurred in about 325 stops (under 2% of total stops); - Searches produced contraband about 60% of the time (Chief Burke described this as an indicator of lawful probable-cause searches). - Less than 0.001% of stops involved the use of physical force (two incidents reported: one officer injured, one suspect injury noted); - The department received no racial-profiling complaints for 2025.
Chief Burke framed the data to emphasize adherence to probable cause and focused enforcement on moving violations (roughly 63% of stops). He described staff efforts to ensure patrol coverage across the city and to target problem locations more frequently.
Council voted to approve the department's 2025 data report.
What the numbers mean
Chief Burke said the department uses data to check whether stops and searches are based on articulable facts and probable cause, and to compare find rates across races to detect potential bias. He noted that a higher find rate among searches of a particular group would not by itself demonstrate bias if search thresholds and context differ.
Speakers
- Chief Burke (Police Chief) (first on record: SEG 4103)
Action
- Motion to approve the Tomball Police Department annual data capture report for 2025; motion carries 5-0.
Implication
Council acceptance of the report satisfies the local requirement to provide the dataset and written report for the prior calendar year under state law; council and staff discussed possible software tools (e.g., Patrol Finder) to improve patrol coverage tracking.
