Methodology
How every figure in a report is computed, so anyone can reproduce it.
Last checked October 28, 2026
Data
- Stops: the counts your agency enters, in the categories of TCOLE’s online form. Free drafts use the numbers in TCOLE’s public statewide file of 2025 reports.
- Population: U.S. Census Bureau, 2020-2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates, tables B03002 (Hispanic or Latino Origin by Race) and B01001 (Sex by Age), from the Census Bureau’s table-based summary file. Each report names the area and its Census GEOID.
How Census categories match TCOLE’s
| Category on TCOLE’s form | Census table line(s) |
|---|---|
| Alaska Native/American Indian | B03002_005: not Hispanic or Latino, American Indian and Alaska Native alone |
| Asian/Pacific Islander | B03002_006 + B03002_007: not Hispanic or Latino, Asian alone; Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone |
| Black | B03002_004: not Hispanic or Latino, Black or African American alone |
| White | B03002_003: not Hispanic or Latino, White alone |
| Hispanic/Latino | B03002_012: Hispanic or Latino, of any race |
| Not in a TCOLE category (population only) | B03002_008 + B03002_009: not Hispanic or Latino, some other race alone; two or more races |
| Female / Male | B01001_026 / B01001_002 |
| Total | B03002_001 |
Residents counted as some other race or two or more races (not Hispanic) have no category on TCOLE’s form. They’re shown as their own population-only row and are never shared out among the five categories.
Which area
- City police departments and city marshals: their city (Census incorporated place).
- Sheriff’s offices, county attorneys and district attorneys: their county.
- Constables: the county, because precincts aren’t Census areas. Agencies with precinct figures can enter them.
- School district police: the school district (Census unified school district).
- Colleges, hospitals, airports, ports, transit, water districts and other agencies: the county TCOLE lists for them.
- Texas Department of Public Safety: the state.
Any agency can choose another Texas county, city or school district, or enter its own figures with a stated source. The report says which was used.
Formulas
- % of stops = stops in the category ÷ total stops × 100.
- % of population = population in the category ÷ total population × 100.
- Difference (percentage points) = % of stops − % of population.
- Ratio = % of stops ÷ % of population.
- Racial or ethnic minority groups = Alaska Native/American Indian + Asian/Pacific Islander + Black + Hispanic/Latino, for stops and population alike (the comparison in art. 2B.0055(c)(1)(A)).
- Disposition percentages = count ÷ stops of that race or ethnicity group × 100.
- Basis of arrest = count ÷ stops of the group that resulted in arrest (written warning and arrest, citation and arrest, or arrest) × 100.
- Searched = searches of the group ÷ stops of the group × 100. Reason for search = count ÷ searches of the group × 100.
- Found = searches of the group that found contraband ÷ searches of the group × 100. Arrest after a finding and contraband type = count ÷ searches of the group that found contraband × 100.
- Margin of error of a sum of Census estimates = square root of the sum of the squared margins of error (the Census Bureau’s approximation).
Rounding
Percentages and differences are rounded to one decimal place and ratios to two, half away from zero, computed from exact whole-number counts with exact arithmetic (never from other rounded figures). “n/a” means a figure can’t be computed because it would divide by zero.
Checks before the files are made
Every box must hold a whole number, 0 or more. These must add up exactly, or the files aren’t made:
- Race or ethnicity, location, race known before the stop, gender, reason for stop, search conducted, result and physical force: each section adds up to total stops.
- Every category with a race breakdown: the five counts add up to its total.
- For each race or ethnicity: the categories of gender, reason for stop, search conducted, result and physical force add up to that group’s stops.
- Reasons for search, and contraband found plus not found, add up to searches (in total and for each group); for each group, findings that did and didn’t result in arrest add up to contraband found.
- Arrest bases add up to stops that resulted in arrest (in total and for each group).
- Complaints that did and didn’t result in disciplinary action add up to the number of complaints.
Two relationships TCOLE’s form doesn’t define are shown as notes but don’t block the files: contraband types (a search can find more than one type) and the bodily injury breakdown (suspect, officer, both) compared with stops involving physical force.
Limits
- Census figures count residents of all ages. They don’t count people who drive in an area but live elsewhere, and they include residents who don’t drive.
- Officers record race or ethnicity as stated by the person or, if not stated, as determined by the officer (art. 2B.0054(a)(1)(B)); Census race and ethnicity are reported by residents.
- Census figures are survey estimates with margins of error, which every report lists. Ratios for small groups change a lot with small changes in counts.
Text
All wording in the reports is fixed template text that states figures; none is written by AI and none states or implies a conclusion. The only free text is what your agency types into the sections marked as completed by the agency.