The chart shows the rate of arrests per 1,000 residents for different racial and ethnic groups in Worcester. For decades, researchers have found white residents face less chance of being arrested in most cities than Black, Latino or Hispanic residents, who also are stopped and searched more frequently. We found Black residents were more likely to be arrested in all 100 metro areas and at least twice as likely to be arrested in 95 metro areas.

The chart shows the rate of drug-related arrests per 1,000 residents for different racial and ethnic groups in Worcester. Despite research showing white people use drugs equally, they’re arrested for drug crimes at lower rates in almost every city in the U.S. We found Black residents were at least twice as likely to be arrested on drug charges in 88 of 100 major metro areas.

This chart compares the racial and ethnic makeup of police officers working for all law enforcement agencies across the Worcester metro area, compared to the population of the region. We considered a gap of more than five percentage points for any racial or ethnic minority group as inequity.