The Tarrant County DA's office is promoting itself again by printing the names of those arrested for DWI over the Thanksgiving holiday. As I tread on thin ice here, let me say that there appears to be a disproportionate number of Hispanic of "foreign" surnames on the list. There are two explanations: (1) That accurately represents the proportional racial makeup of alleged drunk drivers on the road, or (2) Cops are
paroling patrolling predominately minority areas. Why would they do the latter? Well one stereotype would lead to the conclusion that minorities are still historically poor and are more likely just to plea out as opposed to hire a lawyer who will question the officer's actions.
Crazy? Maybe. But if you are a cop looking for DWI suspects and want to make it as easy on yourself as possible, are you going to arrest someone from Westover Hills (which guarantees a court date -- maybe many of them) or are you going to patrol poor east Fort Worth where you'll probably never hear about the case again other than a disposition sheet that reads "Pled Guilty. 24 months probation. $750 fine"?
Here's a portion of the
full list.
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