News of police violence in Ferguson, Chicago and Cincinnati hits people in Peoria with emotional force. It makes everyone wonder, what happens here on the streets of this community.

Britta Johnson wanted to know. Growing up in Peoria, she did not believe systemic racism existed here. After graduating from Richwoods High School, Johnson went to the University of Illinois majoring in global studies and human rights. She started learning to identify signs of systemic racism often invisible to white middle class Americans.

“Everyone in Peoria I trusted and believed said the same thing. Systemic racism doesn’t exist here. At the University of Illinois, I heard different opinions and had the opportunity to do field work and see and talk with people with different ideas,” she said. “People shared my goal to live in a more fair and just society.”

During her own process of evolution, Johnson learned firsthand how difficult it is for people who may not be overtly racist themselves to understand systemic racism is pervasive in this country.

She had the opportunity in college to travel internationally and looked for examples of racial and gender bias.

Her senior thesis in college was a study titled “Does Systemic Racism Play in Peoria? A Case Study of Traffic Stops by the Peoria Police Department.”

Based on her information, she found Peoria is comparable to other cities across the country. That doesn’t make Peoria better or worse but shows there is some degree of systemic profiling by police departments here and nationwide.

Several calls seeking comment from the public information officer at the Peoria Police Department were not returned.

“There is a lot of misunderstanding about systemic racism. It is much harder to reverse. You can’t take down a bathroom sign to fix it. The largest part of the problem is acknowledging it exists,” Johnson said.

In her study, she relied on statistics, empirical evidence and research.

“Black people on average had fewer drugs found in traffic stops,” Johnson said of the statistics she analyzed.

One important change would be training police to make traffic stops based on accidents and not on crime rates, she said, acknowledging that the Peoria police department has been ahead of much of the rest of the country in race relations. Peoria had the first black police officer and was active in the underground railroad.

“Peoria could be forward thinking and influence the rest of the country,” she said.

Her study concludes that police departments would be better to eliminate traffic ticket quotas because quotas lead to racial profiling. Her study indicates quotas exist in the Peoria Police Department but they are not strictly enforced.

Other recommendations she makes include increasing opportunities for positive interaction between police and community members, reevaluating the Don’t Shoot program and increasing ongoing training and investigations into officer misconduct. She also said the public must become more engaged and learn more about systemic racism.

Johnson is applying for law school at University of Illinois in Champaign and would like to work with the police training academy there.

“Traffic stops provide the most interaction between the public and law enforcement,” she said. “It’s one area we can make changes that will affect tomorrow.”