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Report: Boston Police More Likely to Stop Blacks

The American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts report released on Oct. 8 says Boston's black residents are more likely to be stopped, questioned or searched by police.

BOSTON (AP) — An American Civil Liberties Union report says Boston's black residents are more likely to be stopped, questioned or searched by police. Police leaders are condemning the study, saying it is based on old data.

Black residents make up 24 percent of the city's population. The ACLU of Massachusetts report released Wednesday said between 2007 and 2010, 63 percent of more than 200,000 "civilian-police encounters" involved blacks.

The study also found blacks were 8 percent more likely to be involved in multiple police encounters and 12 percent more likely to be stopped and frisked.

Commissioner William Evans says the data is old and doesn't take into account new training.

He also says police do not focus on race but concentrate their efforts in high-crime areas of the city.

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(Photo: Jessica Rinaldi/Reuters/Corbis)

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