There is a higher chance for Black and Latino bicyclists to receive a citation from Chicago police officers in minority areas than bicyclists in predominately white areas, according to a transportation study.  

The study was published by the Transportation Research Part D in September, which found that between 2017 and 2019, officers wrote tickets at eight times a higher rate in Black communities and three times higher in Latino communities than they were in white neighborhoods.  

“In neighborhoods where there’s a lot of policing going on, one more excuse to stop people is the fact that they’re riding their bike on the sidewalk where there’s no bike lane,” said Jesus Barajas, an assistant professor at the University of California, Davis, who wrote the study.  

Related: ‘Driving While Black’ Shows History of US Black Motorists 

Barajas added that these results are more alarming due to there being fewer bike lanes in minority neighborhoods than white areas.

Chicago police spokesman Tom Ahern believes the study does not accurately depict the department.  

“CPD works with residents in our communities to identify areas where bicyclist and vehicular traffic safety could be improved,” Ahern said. “We do not target individuals based on race or community.”  

Olatunji Oboi Reed, president and CEO of the racial equity-focused nonprofit Equiticity, which partnered on the study, said the report could negatively affect the morale in minority communities.  

“There’s a role for cycling to play in improving our neighborhoods,” Reed said. “And when these types of inequities are in existence, from lack of infrastructure in our neighborhoods to enforcement inequities by (the Chicago Police Department), they serve as a dampening effect on more Black and Brown people turning to bikes as a form of travel, as a form of recreation, as a form of physical fitness.” 

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