After receiving multiple complaints from African American motorists who felt that they had been the targets of racial profiling by police officers conducting traffic stops in Ferndale, the ACLU of Michigan requested traffic stop data from the Ferndale Police Department pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act.

DETROIT -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan in a letter today urged the Ferndale Police Department to hire an independent firm to investigate why black motorists are being issued traffic citations at a rate grossly disproportionate to their presence in the local population. After receiving multiple complaints from the public regarding possible racial profiling in Ferndale, the ACLU of Michigan obtained public records from the Ferndale Police Department that indicate that black drivers are far more likely to be ticketed in Ferndale than white drivers.