Your Daily Guide

Discriminatory Traffic Stops in Chicago

Reported traffic stops are way down in Chicago, but Black and Latino drivers are still pulled over at much higher rates. An ongoing class-action lawsuit targets the issue. Meanwhile, many stops still go unreported.

Traffic stops plunge: The Chicago Police Department reported 224,851 traffic stops in 2025 — that’s less than half the reported stops in 2023 and down 23% from 2024. However, officers continue to pull over Black and Latino drivers at much higher rates than white drivers.

• Those rates: By one measure, Black drivers were3.6 times more likely than white drivers to get pulled over, while Latino drivers were 2.85 times more likely. By another measure, Black drivers were 5.6 times more likely and Latino drivers 6.9 times more likely.
• Of reported stops: Over 67% were for non-moving violations, which critics say cops use as a pretext to uncover more serious crimes.

Then again: More than half of traffic stops go unreported, according to a recent analysis, despite previous promises to fix the problem. Underreporting swelled following calls to cut back on traffic stops after the killing of Dexter Reed, who’d been pulled over for a seatbelt violation.

• In 2025 alone, the American Civil Liberties Union says over 250,000 stops went unreported.

A class-action lawsuit: ACLU is suing the city over CPD’s pattern of disproportionately stopping Black and Latino drivers. Recently, a federal judge expanded the lawsuit to include all Black and Latino drivers pulled over in the past five years — or who may be pulled over in the future.

• Already: Chicago taxpayers have paid $3.4 million to defend the suit.

Just last week: CPD agreed to suspend Sgt. Erick Seng and officer Joseph Vecchio for a combined 149 days, after repeated accusations that they improperly stop and search Black men. Vecchio was assigned to desk duty earlier this year over the complaints.

• 15 lawsuits and 76 complaints: Taxpayers have spent $100,000 on two of many lawsuits against Vecchio.