More Blacks Than Whites Got Tickets While Bicycling In Tampa

Follow CBSMIAMI.COM: Facebook | Twitter

TAMPA, Fla. (CBSMiami/AP) — Black cyclists in Tampa were more likely than whites to be stopped and ticketed by police, according to the U.S. Justice Department.

They also said the citations didn't reduce crime in the city.

However, during a news conference Tuesday at the U.S. Attorney's Office, officials insisted the policy was not discriminatory.

The report says 73 percent of riders stopped between Jan. 1, 2014, and Aug. 30, 2015, were black and 26 percent were white, while the estimated population of riders during the period was 40 percent black and 49 percent white.

The report was requested a year ago by Mayor Bob Buckhorn and then-Police Chief Jane Castor after a Tampa Bay Times report that black bicyclists were issued citations at a vastly higher rate than the rest of the population.

(TM and © Copyright 2016 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and
Copyright 2016 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)