DPD presents findings in Demographic Disparity Analysis

The Citizen Review Board hosted a special meeting Wednesday evening where the Duluth Police Department presented results from their outside-sourced Demographic Disparity Analysis.

The analysis was brought about after the Duluth NAACP raised concerns about racial disparities in policing in the city.

The 172-page report that came out of the analysis included statistics like black Duluthians being 9 times as likely to be reported as a suspect of crime than the population average. For Duluth’s Native population, that statistic jumped to nearly 10 times as likely.

Duluth Police Chief Mike Tusken said they will take this data and use it to serve the citizens of the city to the best of their ability.

“We have learned a lot from this analysis,” explained Tusken. “Of course, we are always in the arc of continuous improvement and it’s important for us to take this report and to make us a better police department.”

The report will also be made available to Duluth elected officials, community organizations, local businesses and more.