A new study from the ACLU said that black or Native American people in Minneapolis are almost nine times more likely to be arrested for a petty crime than a white person.
The study, released on Thursday, looked at a 33-month period of arrests to determine which racial groups were arrested most often for low-level crimes.
The results have one local community organizer saying that the Twin Cities area is quickly becoming "the new South."
"We've become the new premiere example of how to systematically oppress people of color," Anthony Newby, executive director of Neighborhoods Organizing for Change, said in an ACLU press release. "And again, it's done through our legal system, and so low-level offenses, as an example, are just one of the many, many ways that Minnesota has perfected the art of suppressing and subjugating people of color."
The study examined arrest records from January 1, 2012, and September 30, 2014. In that time frame they found 96,975 people were arrested for petty crimes like trespassing and disorderly conduct.
Of that group, an average of 20,543 black residents each year were arrested for a low-level crime. An average of 2,163 Native Americans each year were arrested for these types of crimes and an average of 8,069 white people were arrested each year.
These numbers are significant, according to the study, because white people make up 64% of the population of Minneapolis while black people make up 19%. Therefore, black people make up 59% of the low-level arrests in the city, while white people make up 23%.
The ACLU found that black people are being arrested for low-level crimes at a rate of 8.7% more than white people, while Native American residents are being arrested 8.6% more than white people.
"This is a staggering difference," the study said.
The study's authors said they sought to include the Latino community, but there was not enough reliable data from police officers.
Black residents interviewed by the ACLU said the study came as no surprise.
"You see that most of the time … that [the police] target only this community," said Omar Ali, an employment counselor.
In one example, a young man named Hamza Jeylani told the ACLU he and some friends were pulled over after making a U-Turn in a parking lot earlier this year. They were told they was suspected of grand theft auto.
The 17-year-old recorded the encounter on his cell phone. In the video, provided by the ACLU, Jeylani asks why he is being arrested.
"Because I feel like arresting you," said the officer.
Jeylani said he doesn't buy the excuse that they were wanted for car theft. Police reportedly told the group that the car they were looking for was a blue Honda Civic, but they were driving a blue Toyota Camry. The car's driver had his valid license and registration.
"I felt like that was a racial profile," he told the ACLU.
The ACLU said that examples such as these and the data prove that Minneapolis's communities of color are being over-policed in comparison to its white residents.
"The damage in turn is twofold: police-community relations are destroyed and public safety suffers," it said.
A Minneapolis Police Department spokesman told BuzzFeed News that the study fails to take into account that some people were arrested more than once.
"(Repeat offenders) make up a large number of our arrests, but their individuality is not recognized in 'arrest rate' numbers," the spokesman said.
In addition, the spokesman noted that nearly 50% of those arrested fell into three categories: a court-ordered warrant for an arrest, driving without a license, or driving without insurance.
"These are no discretionary arrests," he said.
Still, Minneapolis Police Chief Janee Harteau said in an interview with Minnesota Public Radio that she has not denied the numbers are startling. She said the department is working to address the issue.
"We need to understand the why they exist, and take a deeper dive into those and that's what we are doing," she said.
The report was released at a time where many police forces such as those in Ferguson and Baltimore have been criticized for over-policing black residents.