Add riding a bicycle in Tampa, Fla., to the growing list of everyday activities that black people can’t do.
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According to the U.S. Department of Justice, which released findings Tuesday from an investigation into the Tampa Police Department’s bike-ticketing practices, some 80 percent of all bicycling tickets issued were made out to African Americans, 10 News reports.
Not only were eight out of 10 bike tickets given to blacks, but the investigation also revealed that the majority of the tickets issued targeted “poor, majority black neighborhoods and that bicycle infractions were often used as a guise to check riders for other types of criminal activity,” the news station reports.
The DOJ investigation was sparked after a Tampa Bay Times study found that while blacks make up only 20 percent of Tampa’s population, they are far more likely to be ticketed while riding a bike.
The DOJ recommends stronger community engagement to inform residents why policies are being strictly enforced in certain communities. It also suggests that the Tampa police do a better job of documenting why someone riding a bike is being stopped and of citing that person’s ethnicity.
Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn insisted that no racial profiling or discriminatory practices took place during the biking stops but added that the city welcomes the DOJ recommendations and will make changes.
Read more at 10 News.
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