HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-27-1999 Articles'Nation /World
IoWa City Press-Cit[[en Saturday, ,~pri110, 1999 Page 6A
Police to set policy
for traffic stops
WASHINGTON -- Police
chiefs from some of the nation's
largest departments said Friday
they will create a national traffic
stop poh~cy that they sa/d will
ensure that minorities are not
unfairly targeted.
The police' chiefs made the
announcement at a news con-
ference with minority activists
~ launch what they described
as an honest discussion on
police and race. It came after a
day of closed door meetings
between police executives and
community leaders coordinated
by the Police Executive
Research Forum.
"If we are to deal with it, we
must stipulate that race is an
issue in policing;' Philadelphia
Police Commissioner John
Tunoney said. "rhem are an
awful lot of people in denial, but
so be it. We must move forward."
FROM PJtGE ONE THE NEWS-TIMES, SUNDAY, APRIL 11, 1~,"~'~,
.Noting race on reports
points out bad cops
By John Pirro officers to note the race, fige and gender it takes him about two hours to compile
and Joseph Spector of each person stopped. If the person's the data every six months using the
THE NEVi-TIMES race is not apparent, the officer must ask. department's computer system.
Other police leaders contend asking a An officer in Guilford is required to
Guilford Police Chief Ken Cruz says person's race would introduce racial ten- write a report on every stop, even if it's
keeping track of minorities stopped by sion into legitimate stops, just to look in on a call of suspicious
police is as easy as "adding another let- Cruz said that's not the case. The activity, Terribile said. Officers are also
ter on a report." department has not received any eom- urged to give written warnings to every
· Guilford is one of only a few depart- plaints that a police officer asked about driver stopped, he said.
/nents in the state that keeps statistics a driver's race, he said. Drivers are sim- Cruz said the department policy was
on the number of minority drivers ply told it's part of their record keeping, established partly after a 1993 case in
~topped. ,
Cruz, who is part Hispanic, said the he said. Avon in which that department was
department started the practice about But Cruz said, "I'd much rather handle accused of illegally targeting blacks and
six years ago, mainly as a preventive men- that type of complaint than have some- Hispanics along a stretch of Route 44.
sure rather than as a remedy to police body come in on the other side and say Those allegations, which grew out a
profiling, you are doing this and have nothing to lawsuit filed by Avon's first black police
"I always had a question in my mind show to defend it." officer, Alvin Schwapp ,Ir., drew nation-
f you have an officer that is stopping The statistics are compiled every six al attention to the wealthy, overwhelm-
ur profiling for either gender or race, months. Cruz said of the 2,014 stops from ingly white Farmington Valley commu-
how we will be able to detect that ear- June to December 1998, only 28, or 1.4 nity.
lier enough before a problem arose or percent, of the drivers were black About Avon police supervisors allegedly used
how would we defend ourselves against 2 percent of the 21,000-population town the phrase "Barkhamsted Express" to
any of those allegations?'" he said. is black describe carloads of blacks and Puerto
· As a result, the department requires Deputy Sheriff Thomas Terribile said Ricans who traveled through town dur-
ing the summer between Hartford and a Schwapp's suit and was never allowed
popular swimming area at the Barkham- into evidence.
sted Reservoir. Schwapp is now a police officer in
Sehwapp claimed supervisors, relying Bloomfield.
on a series of warnings they'd received Avon's assistant town manager, Karen
from Hartford police indicating the route Levine, said the town conducted its own
was used by gang members carrying guns investigation of the allegations, inelud-
and drugs, had instructed Avon officers ing an independent statistical analysis
to find reasons to stop those ears. of all motor vehicle arrests in Avon dur-
Civil rights leaders and civil liberties lng a four-yea£ period.
advocates across the state were outraged The study showed no evidence that
when the allegations were made public, minorities had been disproportionately
The state's Human Rights Commission targeted, she said.
filed a complaint against the town and Cruz, the Guilford chief, said profiling
the police department, and the FBI began by age or race is more perception than
an investigation to determine whether reality. He favors proposed legislation
the rights of any minority motorists or that would require all departments to
their passengers had been violated, track the race of the people stopped.
A federal court jury eventually ruled The steps he's taken should protect the
against Schwapp in his $15 million law- Guilford department from any such
~uit, rejecting his claim he'd been sub- claims in the future.
jeered to a racially hostile work atmos~ "If someone walks in here tomorrow
phere while on the job. and wants to make these allegations and
The issue of the "Barkhamsted says this is happening, what do we have?"
Express" was ruled irrelevant to Cruz saicL "We can say, 'Here it is.'"
Police Chiefs Heed Critics
And Vow to Regain Trust
By MICHAEL JANOFSKY
Speaking at her weekly news con- A forum on the
WASHINGTON, April 9 -- Police ferunee before joining the forum for
cbiefs meeting here tO examine hew
their officers could earn more public about an hour, Attorney General Jan-
trust said today that complaints et Reno described traffic siops as an police focuses on -"
issue especially sensitive to blacks
about police misconduct were often
valid and that departments had far and other minorities, ~,ho are often racerelations.
pulled over at a higher rate than -,
to go to meet demands for more ,~
accountability, respect and courtesy, whites· -,
"It is so very important that we
people or more, smd several chief~
The daylong conference, which address the feelings of. Americans . .,
was held in private on Thursday, was who feel that police officers are stop- had called him in recent weeks to
convened in response to the public ping them because of race," Ms. talk about how. they might stop the
outcry over the the fatal shooting of Reno said. erosibn of trust now that crime was,
an unarmed West Afrioan immi. The civil rights division of the Jas- falling in most big cities, with chiefs
grant by four .wh te New York City tire Department is investigating getting much of the credit.
police officers end by questionable complaints about police behavior in Many, lire Mr. Safir, find them-
police behavior in other cities, a variety of contexts in several selves on the defensive from people
Several chiefs described the hast- places, including New York, Los An- who fear the police as much as the5/
fly arranged meeting as highly un- geles, Buffalo and the Washington fear criminals.
usual for its urgency and candor, suburb of Montgomery County, Md. To measure the extent of the probX
much of which focused on race rela- Commissioner Howard Safir of leto, the researeh forum sent ques-.
ti0ns. Each of the 19 chiefs was asked New York said the chiefs discussed tionnaires, asking the chiefs and the
tO bring a local community leader, creating a national standard for how community leaders they designated
someone not necessarily a strong officers should conduct traffic stops, to assess race relations with the po-
supporter of the chief's department Mr. Safir said that in New York he lice. Mr. Wexler said the responses'
or its policies. The first two hours of would speed plans for putting video from both sides reflected a surpris-
t~e conference were set aside for the cameras into patrol cars, with a pilot ing level of agreement.
community leaders to raise issues of. program in the highway division to Mr. Safir said: "One of the things
concern to them, with the chiefs re- start as soon as possible, this conference did was make it clear
qaired to listen in silence, to me that the perception is nation-
The chiefs responded in turn, and wide. The complaints I heard here
for the most part, several said, they Besides studying t?affic-stop pro- were not unlike those I've heard
agreed with the criticism, ceduresj the chiefs said they would from 50 groups I've spoken to since
,,We are collectively dommitted to workwithleadingcivilrightsorgani-. Feb. 4. Most complaints are not
doing all we can to strengthen cum- zations to amend policing policies, about force. They're about respect.
manity partnerships and take a hard Echoing views expressed by other They're related to how people are
look at our recruitment, hiring, train- chiefs, John F. Timoney, the Phila- treated."
lng and oversight practices," said delphia Police Commissioner and a Mr. Safir's guest at the conferenc~
Thomas C. Frazier, the Baltimore former first deputy commissioner i~i: was Richard E. Green, chief execti-
Police Commissioner and president New York, said: "Frankly, there is a tire of the Crown He ghts Youth Col:
of the organization that arranged the problem with race in policing. To~ lective, an outreach program ih
meeting, the Police Executive Re- solve it, we have to deal openly with., Brooklyn. Like other community
search Forum, a nonprofit group it. lfwedon'tstipulatethatraceisa, n leaders who attended, Mr. Green
that studies police issues, issue, everything flows from that and said he walked into the room on
Mr. Frazier added: "Yesterday's then it's just an academic exercise.'t Thursday skeptical that any mean-
meeting should be considered the NO recent episode demonstrated ingfuI progress might be achieved.
beginning of a continuing dialogue, the problems more vividly than the He said he left feeling hopeful.
This process is clearly a journey, not shooting death of Amadou Diallo, the "It was a very productive, very
a destlnat'on." West African immigrant who wasl frank discussion," Mr. Greensaid. "I
The chiefs who attended repre- standing, unarmed, in the vestibule heard things that gave me greater
sented large cities, including New of his Bronx apartment building onI assurance things might change. Was
York, Philadelphia and Minneapolis, Feb. 4 when police officers fired 41i it nirvana? No. But they got the ball
as well as smaller ones~ like ArUng- shots at him, hitting him 19 times, i to the 20-yard line. We have to work
ton, Va., and Stamford, Conn. Pour officers have pleaded eot guilty to get it into the end zone."
The only specific policy initiative
they announced was a pledge to de- to charges of second-degree murder.
To police critics in New York and:
velop new standards for traffic stops elsewhere, the shooting demonstrat-
that include a higher degree of cour-
esy than many officers typically dis- ed why average citizens have grown
play now, often when minority drip- distrustful and afraid of people who
ers are involved, are paid to protect them, especially
Such new procedures, the chiefs in minority neighborhoods.
acknowledged, could include some- Chuck Wexler, executive director
thing as simple as an apology to of the research forum, which repre-
drivers who were found not to have ' sents chiels in 300 cities of 50,000
committed any crime·
'Profi ;n '
of drivers-.
under fire
Police deny race-based traffic stops
By Joseph 8pector "It's time it stops," Shelton said.
THE NEWS-TIMES "You simply can't violate people's
civil rights."
It's called DWB: Driving While Politicians have put anti-pro-
Black It's legal, but'police can filingbillsatthetopoftheiragan-
treat it like a crime, das, while minorit~ lead-
minorities claim. ' · Word on the ers in local towns have
Minority leaders bolstered efforts to
across the country want Street: Do you . -
en~ure fair treatment by
to reverse the trend: think police in police.
They want to target Danbu~treat Racial profiling is a'
police who illegally stop minorities fairly? law enforcement prac-
minorities. · Nationwide, tice of using certain
"We have been dealing pollge re-examine racial characteristics ss
with what is a thorn in their methods~ indicators of criminal
the side of hardworking behavior. No complaints
African Americans for a' Page B-1 have been registered in
long time," said Hilary the Danbury area in the
Shelton, director of the Washing- past 15 months, a review of citi-
ton, D.C, bureau of the National zen complaints of local depart-
Association for the Advancement ments show. The News-Times
of Colored People. ~ ~ease see POLICE, Page A-12
i .Police deny they make
race-based traffic stops
~Continued from Page A-1
-Jiled a Freedom of Information '~lJ~J~l
!inquiry as~ for complaints PO~i~e ~.~ ~ ~ ~ ~e
lodged since Janu~ 1~. A 1~8 telephone poll su~ng 500 s~te resldems on their aRitudes toward police
~ ~ HoweveL ~o~[ty leaders s~ ilJu~m~s ~e divide be~een ~Res and nonwhites:
* Jhe practice is ~desp~ead in ~e
~ Danb~ area. Su~ey que~ion
~ "[ ~i~ it's wome ~ it w~
]th 1~," said She~i Neptune, JHaveyou personally
'~ead of the Greater ganbu~ ~r fe~tmated uotaifly ~%
: N~. "~ are we fighti~ ~e by the police specifi~fly
' ~e issues that we were fighti~ ~use of your race? YSS
~back ~en?"
-~e ti~ of ~e fi~t is not ~Mi~si~my
a~ciden~l. Several ~cent nation-
z are treated
cases ~ere ~ ~n ~s In
su~ as Agree
motor vehicle ~ops.
brutality in your town is a
very serious problem, a 41% ~
somewhat serious problem, ~~
i- not a serious problem or
not a problem at all?
~ man a convict: : i -
Ed felon wanted by police -- the · Has anyone in your own
local NAACP held a race rela- household ever b~en
tions forum last month with local physically abused by the
police chiefs. Most of the atten- police? Yes
dees said they have been
harassed and stopped by local
police. , · Do you think the police
Neptune, meanwhile, thinks in Connecticu~ need more ,;83°/o
r~cei:played a role in the Shoot-' educotJonandtmlningin .
i~g df'27-year;old Franklyn Reid, people skills? '
d~spite state invest~r~' and ~ , { Yes
14cai officials' contenti6//that it I"m In general, t~e police
'~"lf that was a white kid arid a work as hard to Solve
b~ack cop, the kid ,w. ould have cdminal cases when the §?%
l~en walking today,' she said.
}To combat the profiling prac- do when the victim is white.
fife, several states, including Con- ~l co.d~ct~d by th~ ~ of
nbcticut, have introduced bills
statistics on the race and ethnic- 'the nation as evidence that pro- ment.
ity of people stopped. It would filing goes on. His case gained support when
why a car was stopped, experience, from department Chief Ted
"In order for us to stop ~racial State Sen..~Avin Penn, D-Bridge- Ambrosini to his officers. The let-
profiling, we have to have police port, is sponsoring an anti-profil- ter stated officers have an oblig-
doing good police work This is a ing bill that the legislative Pub- ation to consider the "profile of
way for us to detennine that," said lic Safety Conunittee passed last our community and those who
~S. Rep. Harold James, D- m0nth. It vAll go to the Senate this travel within its boundaries."
~ladelphia, who is sponsoring month. Ambrosini stated the wording
ap anti-profiling bill. Penn is convinced he was a tar- had nothing to do with race. Yet
,'"'Police chiefs or mayors should- get of racial profiling in ~h'umbull the FBI is investigating the
n't mind anything like this a few years ago. The black sena- department for possible civil
because it's going to get to the tot was pulled over by a white rights violations and Penn is part
said James, a black man who was stop, only informing him that he race issues and hiring practices
a former Philadelphia police offi- didn't look like he belonged in in Trumbull.
cer for ~ years, town, Penn said. Police have criticized Penn's
The bills aim to make police "There is no question it was a bill and similar legislation in oth-
recent incidents and statistics protested the stop and demanded tedious and could unfairly label
fi`om police departments across changes in the all-white depart- legitimate stops as racially moti-
vated. Strillacci said, in some cases, But the statewide police train-
"It's our belief that it will be minorities are pulled over more lng program doesn't teach aga/nst
fairly onerous to collect that often. That could be based sim- racial profili,n,g_ either, Knapp
data," said West Hartford Chief ply on economics, since minori- said, because it s simply known to
James Strillacci, a ranking mem- ties can have less money, which be illegal, like robbing a store or
ber of the Connecticut Police can result in more motor vehicle assaulting someone. Nevertheless,
Chiefs Association. "We're not violations, such as expired regis- state law doesn't specifically
really sure what it's going to tration~ and licenses, he said. address the practice ofracialpro-
prove. There are a lot of things "In this society, I think you'd filing.
that can contribute to the statis- have to agree that the economic Knapp said the academy man-
tics." burden falls more on our minori- dates courses in race relations
Several anti-prefiling bills have ties," Strillacci said. "It should and cultural diversity, which
been rejected in recent years, not surprise you then, because of many local departments also
largely because powerful police the economic factors, minorities require.
organizations lobby against them, may more heavily be the people Still, recent cases of alleged
said Cynthia Martin, a spokes- who are stopped." racial profiling by police are
woman for.U.S. Rep John Cony- Th'at could also play into receiving unprecedented expo.
ers, D-Michigan. minorities' perception of police, sure.
Conyers introduced an anti-pro, he said. Some recent cases:
filing bill in Congress in March A study commissioned last year · In 1993, accusations spread in
1997. The bill required the U.S. by the New Haven-based Crimi- Avon that local police targeted
Department of Jnstice to collect nal Justice Policy Foundation blacks and Latinos traveling on
and analyze data from routine shows police perception is pro- the "Barkhamsted Express," a
traffic stops, but prohibited use foundly divided by race, despite term for the route through .to~rn
of the statistics in race discrimi- the overall results that indicate to the Barkhamsted Reservoir.
nation lawsuits, people find police professional · In 1995, Maryland state police
The House passed the bill, but and ethical, found 74 percent of stops on a
it was rejected in the Senate Judi- Out of 500 Connecticut residents stretch of Interstate 95 were 'of
ciary Committee. Martin said the polled by telephone, 2 percent of black motorists, though they con-
bill lacked support from top Sen- whites reported being treated stituted only 14 percent of drivers.
ate leaders mainly because of unfairly by police because of their · In 1996, a New Jersey judge
police pressure. Conyers plans to race-- compared to 34 percent of ruled state troopers were target-
submit a modified bill this month, non-whites, ing minority drivers. Statistics
Penn's bill was also modified. "What it's saying is the public indicated minorities were pulled
Originally, the bill required at large has a perception that over five times more than white
police to ask the race of e/~ch per- there is a problem, and I'd argue drivers. The case is being
son stopped. But police feared - that there is a problem," said Nick appealed.
that would inject racial tension Pastore, a former New Haven · Malik Jones, 21, was killed hy
into each situation. Penn changed police chief who runs the center, a white police officer in April
the bill to require that police doc- Racial profiling is deemed so 1997 after a car chase in New
ument what they perceive as a widespread that the NAACP and Haven. The officer was cleared of
person's race. the American Civil Liberties wrongdoing, but the family of the
Still, some police leaders said Union are among groups that pub- black man claimed in a federal
the bill defeats its purpose. ~ lish booklets on people's rights lawsuit last week that the chase
"I think it's discriminatory," when they are stopped-- and how was sparked by racial profiling.
Brookfield Chief John Anderson to avoid confrontations with Jones was initially pursued by the
said. "Now you are singling out. police, officer for alleged reckless dri-
minorities because you stop "It's at the point where you have ving.
them." to teach people how to get through · Last' April, two white New
Anderson and other local chiefs these things without getting Jersey state police officers shot
urge residents to file complaints arrested or killed," said Hilary at four unarmed minority men,
against police who act unfairly. Shelton of the NAACP. "It's that injuring three of them. The state
Anderson, who attended the local bad." is conducting a criminal investi-
NAACP meeting, said the local The Connecticut NAACP last gation.
chiefs plan to circulate a letter to year established a program called · New Jersey Gov. Christine
their employees warning "officers "Operation Blind Justice" to col- Todd Whitman fired the state
are going to be held accountable lect data on the racial breakdown police superintendent in March
for any acts of discrimination." of drivers pulled over by police, after he claimed minorities are
Anderson, however, disputed The program was soon adopted by responsible for most of the drug
that police target minorities, the national NAACP, but its find- trafficking in the state.
"If we saw a suspicious vehicle ings have yet to be compiled. · On Feb. 4, four white New
in the area, it wouldn't be based H. William Knapp, head of the York City police off~cers search-
on the fact that someone is black," Police Officer Standards and ing for a rapist fired 41 shots at
he said. Training Council in Meriden, said unarmed West African inunigrant
Police leaders argue some racial profiling is not taught to Amadou Diallo in front of his
towns have higher rates of minor- police students. Bronx home. He was hit 19 times
ity stops because of the towns' "If a town is doing it, they are and died instantly. The four offi-
demographics, which could be coming up with it on their own," cers have been charged with sec-
misrepresented in statewide cai- he said. "They are not getting it ond-degree murder.
culations of stops, up here."