Civil rights groups released a new report April 23 that shows widespread racial disparities in Florida Highway Patrol traffic stops and arrests, with Black drivers and Hispanic drivers disproportionately stopped, ticketed and arrested.
The research examined over 1.4 million FHP traffic stops between May 2021 and March 2024, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida and LatinoJustice PRLDEF, formerly the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, which co-conducted the analysis.
“In a state with one of the largest Latino populations in the country, these unfair traffic enforcement patterns spread fear and mistrust,” Stephanie Cordero, senior counsel for immigrant rights at LatinoJustice PRLDEF, said in a statement.
Among the report’s key findings:
FHP did not respond to TCPalm’s request for comment.
ACLU and LatinoJustice report matches TCPalm investigation
The report — titled “Discrimination in Overdrive: Florida’s Immigration Crackdown Fuels Racial Profiling in Traffic Stops” — corroborates many findings in TCPalm’s March 23 investigation of discrimination in FHP traffic stops from 2018-25.
TCPalm’s investigation found:
FHP granted immigration enforcement powers
The ACLU/LatinoJustice report focuses on FHP’s treatment of Black drivers and Hispanic drivers in light of its recent expansion into immigration enforcement.
In 2025, FHP signed a 287(g) agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), making nearly all troopers “designated immigration officers” — a status that allows them to stop, search and interrogate people based on immigration status.
The agreement revived a task force model disbanded in 2012 after the Department of Justice found it led to widespread racial profiling.
“This broad delegation of authority transforms routine local traffic enforcement into potential immigration enforcement actions,” the report reads.
FHP stops, searches, arrests Black drivers more than White drivers
The new report also reinforced TCPalm’s investigative findings published April 22. TCPalm’s data analysis of over 1 million FHP traffic stops from 2024-25 found troopers disproportionately stopped, searched and arrested more Black drivers than White drivers — even though searches found illegal drugs and weapons in White drivers’ cars more often.
ACLU/LatinoJustice researchers found that Black drivers:
While their analysis focused only on stops and arrests, TCPalm’s investigation also examined searches, and found even starker disparities. Those findings include:
Florida civil rights groups urge FHP to take measures
The report urges the highway patrol to increase transparency, strengthen oversight and review its practices to address disparities in law enforcement. Specifically, it recommends FHP:
FHP policy prohibits troopers from treating people differently based on “race, ethnicity, gender, age, education level, religious affiliation, sexual orientation or financial status.” FHP’s website says it filters for bias and discriminatory behavior at “every step of the application process,” including psychological screening, polygraph test and a background check.
“When racial profiling becomes policy, traffic enforcement is no longer focused on public safety — it becomes an instrument of injustice,” ACLU of Florida Executive Director Bacardi Jackson said in a statement.
Jack Lemnus is a TCPalm enterprise reporter. Contact him at jack.lemnus@tcpalm.com, 772-409-1345, or follow him on X @JackLemnus.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Florida ACLU report shows FHP racial bias against Blacks and Hispanics
Reporting by Jack Lemnus, Treasure Coast Newspapers / Treasure Coast Newspapers
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