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Huntsville Has Racial Disparity In Traffic Tickets

Huntsville, AL – More than half of the traffic tickets in Hunstville go to blacks, even though the city's population is less than one-third black.

The Census bureau lists Huntsville's population as 31.5 percent black. Huntsville police issued 55 percent of their tickets to blacks between June 2006 and June 2008.

Deputy Police Chief Mark Hudson says police have focused their enforcement efforts on areas with the most traffic deaths, and those happen to be areas with predominantly black neighborhoods. He said the plan has reduced traffic deaths significantly.

The Rev. T.C. Johnson sees it differently. He told the City Council that it's racial profiling.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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