There is no underlying data or information provided with the report showing how percentages were calculated for use in the analysis.

The report acknowledges that there is no evidence to corroborate the figures used in the pie chart showing the race of people ticketed after a random license plate check. It asserts that the tickets were “likely to have resulted from an officer running the license plate without observing a violation.” (ABLE Report, p. 2.) The Oakwood Public Safety Department does not track stops based on whether they were initiated by observed traffic violations or random license plate checks. Stops were differentiated by ABLE based on an assumption that a stand-alone licensing offense “likely resulted from” a license plate check. This assumption may be true in some instances, but not all.

The data is incomplete which was acknowledged in the report: “We did not have all of the data we would have needed to fully explore the causes and consequences of the racial divide in police stops in Oakwood.” (ABLE Report, p. 4.)

As stated in the report, the authors were not able to examine or consider a number of variables, including unrecorded stops, time of day factors, individual officer practices, location of stops, and differential enforcement. (ABLE Report, pp. 4-5.)

The use of Kettering as a benchmark for comparison is not explained, other than Far Hills Avenue and Shroyer Road continue into Kettering. During the October 1, 2019 meeting with the authors, they acknowledged that they did not consider:

• a.
  Differences in how the two departments conduct traffic enforcement;
• b.
  Differences in traffic patterns on each jurisdiction's portion of these streets; and
• c.
  Differences in how the two departments track traffic enforcement data.

There is no benchmark for what is, or is not, an appropriate percentage of stops based on random license plate checks, nor is there any benchmark for the number of persons of a particular race that may have outstanding warrants, driver's license suspensions, or other licensing issues that are revealed through random license plate checks.

There was no effort to count vehicles or otherwise account for the demographics of the driver on Oakwood's main thoroughfares. The authors acknowledged that those demographics may differ from the demographics of Oakwood residents. This is absolutely the case given that Far Hills Avenue (SR-48) and Shroyer Road are primary thoroughfares connecting the city of Dayton to the southern Montgomery County suburbs. The authors also agreed that there is no feasible method to capture this data. (ABLE Report, p. 2.)

The report recommends adoption of anti-bias policies, but the authors did not inquire as to existing policies. We have a policy and it is periodically updated to reflect law enforcement best practices.

The report also recommends implementation of training for Oakwood Public Safety Department officers, but again the authors did not inquire as to existing policies or training records. Since 2012, the following training has been completed by Oakwood Public Safety Officers and Command Staff, the vast majority taught by instructors who are recognized at the state or national level as experts in the area.