Louisville police watchdog says LMPD sat on its own data showing Black drivers are searched over twice as often as white drivers, with worse results

An LMPD-commissioned study of 37,765 traffic stops found Black drivers accounted for the largest share of stops and were subjected to discretionary searches 132.9% more often than white drivers overall (66.3% more often after controlling for location, age, and stop reason), while those searches were 11.1% less likely to turn up evidence. On August 4, 2026, the Louisville Metro Office of Inspector General publicly stated LMPD possessed the analysis before it became public and did not proactively disclose it, and that LMPD leadership had previously dismissed or minimized related OIG concerns.