Tag: racial profiling
Black Lives Matter protest outside of White House

Let's End Police Traffic Stops That Bring Needless Tragedy

Driving has gotten much less dangerous over time, thanks to new safety features in cars, better highway design and a decline in drunk driving. But that's no solace to motorists who face dangers of a different kind — not when they are driving, but when they are stopped on the side of the road.

Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old African American, was fatally shot by a police officer in Minnesota after being pulled over for an expired license tag. In Virginia, Caron Nazario, a Black and Latino Army officer, was pepper-sprayed after being stopped for lacking a rear license plate — though a temporary plate was affixed to his rear window.

Jenoah Donald, a 30-year-old Black man, was fatally shot by a Kentucky sheriff's deputy who had pulled him over for a broken taillight. And it's impossible to forget Sandra Bland, a 28-year-old African American, who died in 2015 in a Texas jail after being stopped for failing to signal — and was arrested for refusing to put out her cigarette.

A lot of factors figure in these deadly incidents. Police commonly have a tendency to target Black and Hispanic drivers for minor traffic offenses, and some cops are overly aggressive or inept in dealing with these motorists. Curing such failings has proven to be a difficult task.

But one solution is hiding in plain sight. None of the violence visited upon people during police traffic stops would have occurred if there had been no police traffic stop. Instead of focusing entirely on restraining cops in these situations, we should try to keep them out of these situations.

Life was different until vehicular infractions became the province of police officers. "Before the 20th century, the average American seldom came under police scrutiny," writes Columbia law professor Sarah Seo, author of Policing the Open Road: How Cars Transformed American Freedom. "Ironically, the rise of the automobile — that embodiment of personal freedom — vastly expanded the police's powers over everybody who drove or rode in a car." Cops pull over 50,000 cars every day, 20 million per year.

Someone has to take responsibility for administering traffic laws. But there is no compelling reason for armed police to confront individuals over petty errors and trivial transgressions. It creates unnecessary hazards for cops and for those they stop.

It also invites discrimination. Various studies indicate that cops are more likely to stop Black and Hispanic drivers than white ones and more likely to search their cars — even though they are more likely to find contraband with white drivers.

In a 2013 Gallup Poll, 24% of Black men aged 18 to 34 said they had been unfairly treated by police in the last 30 days. The New York Times reported that Philando Castile, who was shot to death by a cop in Minnesota in 2016, was pulled over 49 times in 13 years — typically for minor infractions.

Contrary to myth, traffic enforcement is not a good method of catching crooks and curbing crime. In Chicago, these stops yield contraband in only 1 in 555 cases.

A 2018 study of Nashville, Tennessee, by the Policing Project at the New York University School of Law found: "Traffic stops do not appear to have a significant impact on long-term crime trends. As the number of traffic stops declined between 2012 and 2017, crime rates remained quite flat." And, "Traffic stops also do not appear to have any effect on crime in the short-term."

Unpleasant experiences breed distrust and hostility toward cops among African Americans and Hispanics. The simplest way to prevent such incidents is to remove police from the picture whenever possible.

New York Attorney General Letitia James recently proposed that New York City police cease making routine traffic stops. "Armed police officers are not needed for traffic enforcement," her report concluded, "particularly when the underlying conduct in question is not criminal, such as a broken taillight, speeding, or not wearing a seatbelt."

More use of speed and red-light cameras could greatly reduce the incidence of police-driver encounters, while promoting road safety. Unarmed traffic monitors could document minor violations by photo or video and mail citations to offenders; they could also make stops when necessary. Cops could be reserved for instances of dangerous driving.

In every traffic stop, the driver and the police officer face the risk of being killed, and too often, the risk becomes a reality. Why not take both out of the line of fire?

Steve Chapman blogs at http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chapman. Follow him on Twitter @SteveChapman13 or at https://www.facebook.com/stevechapman13. To find out more about Steve Chapman and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

Democrat Defeats Anti-Immigrant Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio

Democrat Defeats Anti-Immigrant Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio

PHOENIX (Reuters) – Veteran Arizona lawman Joe Arpaio, a Republican who gained national prominence for his hard-line stance against illegal immigration, conceded defeat on Tuesday in his bid for a seventh term as the sheriff of the state’s most populous county.

Unofficial results showed that Arpaio, self-proclaimed as “America’s toughest sheriff,” lost to Democratic challenger and former Phoenix police officer Paul Penzone by about 10 percentage points in the race for Maricopa County sheriff.

With 71 percent of precincts counted, Penzone had 563,059 votes to 459,683 for Arpaio.

In a statement, Arpaio, 84, thanked the people for their faith and support over the years and the hard work and dedication of his employees.

“Tonight, the people have spoken,” he said. “And while (wife) Ava and I are disappointed in the results, we respect their decision.”

Penzone, who narrowly lost to Arpaio in 2012, said the election results made a statement that could be heard nationwide.

“No matter where we come from or what we look like or what our beliefs are, we’re all entitled to respect,” Penzone told supporters in declaring victory. “I want to restore that respect, that transparency and that confidence to the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.”

The loss by the embattled sheriff came as he was facing a criminal contempt charge for violating a court order stemming from a 2007 case that found his office guilty of racial profiling.

A federal judge in Phoenix ruled that Arpaio and his deputies had stopped and detained Latino motorists solely on the suspicion they were in the country illegally for 18 months after an order to cease those operations.

Federal prosecutors alleged that the sheriff’s conduct was criminal and recommended he face up to six months incarceration if found guilty at trial.

He had lashed out at President Barack Obama’s Justice Department for what he said was playing politics and charging him so close to the election, vowing he would be cleared of any wrongdoing.

Because of the looming legal woes and court setbacks, political observers predicted this would be Arpaio’s toughest election test. An opinion poll last month showed him down by nearly 15 percentage points.

At noon on Tuesday, several hundred students from two heavily Latino high schools walked out of class and onto the streets to urge voters to end Arpaio’s more than two decades in office.

(Reporting by David Schwartz in Phoenix; Editing by Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles)

IMAGE: Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio  in Anthem, Arizona, U.S. January 9, 2013. REUTERS/Laura Segall/File Photo

Trump Wants More Racial Profiling After Orlando Shooting

Trump Wants More Racial Profiling After Orlando Shooting

Republican Donald Trump said on Sunday the United States should consider more racial profiling, in response to a question about whether he supported greater law enforcement scrutiny of Muslim Americans after the Orlando mass shooting.

“I think profiling is something that we’re going to have to start thinking about as a country,” Trump told CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

Trump made similar comments last December about profiling, the targeting of specific demographic groups for extra scrutiny, after a Muslim American and his wife killed 14 people in San Bernardino, California.

Last week, Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee for the Nov. 8 election, sparked criticism from many in his party for his comments on American Muslims after the Orlando attack on Sunday, in which a U.S.-born Muslim man killed 49 people at a gay nightclub.

In a speech on national security on Monday, Trump stood by his call for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States and proposed a suspension of immigration from countries with “a proven history of terrorism.”

He also said the Muslim community had to “cooperate with law enforcement and turn in the people who they know are bad.”

Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democratic nominee, has said the comments show Trump is unfit to be president.

The Florida gunman, Omar Mateen, was born in the United States to Afghan parents. During a three-hour siege at the club, he expressed support for Islamic State, but officials believe heas “self-radicalized.”

In his interview on Sunday, Trump said there were “red flags” around Mateen, who had been investigated twice by the FBI but ultimately cleared.

Trump also reiterated his support for more scrutiny of mosques, saying that could resemble a controversial New York City surveillance program that has been shut down.

“If you go to France right now, they’re doing it in France. In fact, in some instances they’re closing down mosques,” he said.

Police in France closed some mosques shortly after gunmen aligned with Islamic State militants killed 130 people in Paris in a series of attacks on Nov. 13.

House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan endorsed Trump but has said a Muslim ban is not in U.S. interests. In excerpts of an NBC interview released on Friday, Ryan, the top elected U.S. Republican, said Republicans weighing whether to vote for Trump should follow their “conscience.”

Trump brushed off the criticism on Sunday and said he would put up his own money for his campaign if needed. “It would be nice if the Republicans stuck together,” Trump said in an ABC interview. “I can win, one way or another.”

 

(Editing by Mary Milliken and Peter Cooney)

Photo: Republican U.S. Presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Phoenix, Arizona, June 18, 2016. REUTERS/Nancy Wiechec

‘Django Unchained’ Actress Detained For ‘Basic Police Work,’ LAPD Says

‘Django Unchained’ Actress Detained For ‘Basic Police Work,’ LAPD Says

By Amina Khan, Los Angeles Times

A Los Angeles police official defended the actions of officers who detained “Django Unchained” actress Daniele Watts as “basic police work” amid claims that she was mistreated.

According to the police account of the incident, officers were responding to a 911 complaint that a couple was engaged in indecent exposure last week inside a silver Mercedes-Benz with the door open.

Patrol officers and a sergeant from the North Hollywood Division responded to the 11900 block of Ventura Boulevard in Studio City and “located two individuals that matched the description of the suspects, and they were briefly detained,” police said in a statement.

Watts and her companion, Los Angeles chef Brian James Lucas, were subsequently released after an investigation revealed no crime had been committed.

Video posted on social media shows Watts handcuffed, wearing a T-shirt, gym shorts, and athletic shoes, telling an officer, “You guys came and grabbed me … for no reason.”

“As I was sitting in the back of the police car, I remembered the countless times my father came home frustrated or humiliated by the cops when he had done nothing wrong,” Watts, who is African American, wrote on her public Facebook page.

But LAPD Capt. Stephen Carmona of the North Hollywood area station defended the officers, saying they were doing due diligence when they detained Watts after she did not give them identification.

“That’s just basic police work. It could be a vandalism suspect in an alley,” Carmona said. “The vandalism may be done, but they’re still going to investigate the incident.”

Still, Carmona said the LAPD would fully investigate the allegations made by Watts and Lucas, who is white.

“We take all of these things really seriously, and we’re going to ask the hard questions,” Carmona said.

Watts and Lucas did not respond to The Times‘ requests for comment. Watts’ manager, Shepard Smith, declined to comment.

AFP Photo/Kevork Djansezian

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