Pubdate: Sat, 30 Sep 2000
Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA)
Copyright: 2000 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.
Contact:  PO Box 120191, San Diego, CA, 92112-0191
Fax: (619) 293-1440
Website: http://www.uniontrib.com/
Forum: http://www.uniontrib.com/cgi-bin/WebX
Author: Mark Arner, Staff Writer

DATA ON POLICE TRAFFIC STOPS NOT SURPRISING TO MINORITIES

So what else is new?

That was what black and Latino residents said yesterday, a day after San 
Diego police released a preliminary study showing black and Latino 
motorists are pulled over at a higher rate and are searched far more often 
than whites or Asians.

Maria Rodriguez, 24, a mother of two who was at a gas station in City 
Heights, said San Diego police have pulled her over five times in the past 
year. She was not ticketed.

She said police checked her identification and proof of insurance, searched 
her car and patted down any male passengers -- particularly if they had 
shaved heads or baggy pants.

"I'm always asking them, 'Why are you pulling us over?' " Rodriguez said. 
"They say, 'We got a report of a fight or loitering, and they (the males in 
the car) fit the description.' It's giant bull."

Michael Shepherd, 33, a black probation officer, said San Diego police have 
pulled him over three times at night during the past year. He also was not 
ticketed.

"A lot of times I'm in uniform," Shepherd said, "and they come up and look 
in and do a double take.

"I (ask them), 'Can I help you, Officer?'

"They begin to talk about how my taillight is dim, but they don't give me 
anything. . . . Once they figure out that I'm law enforcement, they assume 
that I know the law."

Police spokesman Dave Cohen declined to respond to the criticisms from 
Rodriguez, Shepherd and others because he did not have exact dates of the 
alleged stops. He urged motorists with concerns about possibly bogus 
traffic stops to contact the department at (619) 531-2000 and file a complaint.

"If you honestly believe that our people acted rudely, unprofessionally or 
illegally, we need to know about that," Cohen said.

Accusations of racial profiling prompted the study released Thursday. It is 
one of the first of its kind in the nation.

It looked at the races of motorists stopped by police and examined more 
than 91,500 traffic stops from January through June.

It found nearly 70 percent of police searches of motorists involved blacks 
or Latinos. Blacks and Latinos make up less than 30 percent of San Diego's 
population that is of legal driving age. More than 40 percent of the 
motorists pulled over were black or Latino.

Police and others said it is too early to draw any conclusions. The study 
will look at a full year's worth of stops before a final report is issued 
next year.

Minority residents say they don't need to wait.

J. Lewis, 30, a black printing press worker from Rolando who was at the 
Hillcrest office of the Department of Motor Vehicles, said he has been 
pulled over three times during the past year but not given any tickets.

Lewis said that one night police glared at him as he drove by in his 
gold-painted, lowrider-style sedan, then pulled him over.

"I asked, 'What's your probable cause?'

"He said, 'Just give me your license.' "

He was given an oral warning about a small crack in his windshield.

Lewis agreed that there was a small crack. But he said there was no way the 
officer could have seen it when he pulled him over.

Lawanda Starks, 28, a black mother of two from Rolando who has a new Ford 
Escort, said she has been pulled over three times during the past year but 
received no tickets.

"You can't have a nice car and be black without being suspected of either 
doing drugs or something illegal," Starks said.
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