Seattle, WA
Of the 1,710 jaywalking tickets issued by Seattle police from 2010 to 2016, 447 — more than one in four — went to a Black pedestrian. Black people represent just about 7% of the city’s population.
Jacksonville, FL
A ProPublica and Florida Times-Union report published in 2017 showed that Black residents of Jacksonville are three times more likely to receive a citation for a pedestrian violation than white residents.
Ferguson, MO
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, between 2011 and 2013, Black people in Ferguson, Mo., received 95% of jaywalking tickets.
San Diego, CA
Black people represented 16% of all San Diego jaywalking citations issued between January 2015 and June 2021, according to data provided by the San Diego Police Department, despite being only 6% of the city’s population.
Los Angeles, CA
In L.A., nearly a third of pedestrians issued jaywalking tickets over the last decade were Black — in a city with a 9% Black population.
Sacramento, CA
In 2016, half of the 233 jaywalking tickets Sacramento’s law enforcement officers issued went to Black people. Yet, Black individuals make up just 15% of the city’s population.
Long Beach, CA
Black residents make up about 11% of Long Beach’s population, but they account for 36% of police citations for minor infractions like jaywalking, smoking in a park and riding a bike at night without a light.
New York, NY
From January 1 to March 31, 2020, the NYPD wrote 80 tickets for illegal crossing and only one went to a person identified in police logs as “white.” The rest — 78 of the 79 tickets for which a race was listed, or 99% — went to Black or Hispanic individuals, who comprise about 55% of the population.
Kansas City, MO
123 citations have been issued for jaywalking in Kansas City over the past three years. Of those, 65% were issued to Black people and 34% were written to white people. Nearly 30% of Kansas City residents are Black, while about 55% of residents are white, according to recent census data.
Atlanta, GA
Atlanta’s residential population is about 52% Black, 40% white, 4% Hispanic, and 4% Asian. Yet 90% of those ticketed for jaywalking and 81% of those cited for not using the sidewalk were Black.