Pubdate: Fri, 13 Oct 2000
Source: San Francisco Examiner (CA)
Copyright: 2000 San Francisco Examiner
Contact:  http://www.examiner.com/
Forum: http://examiner.com/cgi-bin/WebX
Author: Demian Bulwa of The Examiner Staff

MEMO: INTERROGATE HISPANICS

Forest Service Wanted Mendocino Park Rangers To Target Pot
Investigations

U.S. Forest Service officers trying to crack down on marijuana harve
sting in Mendocino National Forest were told as a safety tip to
interrogate all Hispanics whose vehicles were stopped, even if no pot
was found.

The final sentence in a memo about a nighttime operation stated, "If a
vehicle stop is conducted and no marijuana is located and the vehicle
has Hispanics inside at a minimum we would like all individuals FI'd
(field interrogated)."

The memo from a supervising officer was modified Wednesday after the
publisher of the twice-weekly Sacramento Valley Mirror showed it to
Forest Service officials. Tim Crews said he obtained the memo Tuesday
from a federal law enforcement officer.

All officers who received the memo have been advised to disregard the
section that includes the reference to "Hispanics," said Phebe Brown,
a spokeswoman for Mendocino National Forest.

She called the directive, which referred to an operation from Oct. 8
to 14, an "unfortunate use of words," but not racial profiling, the
illegal practice by law enforcement officers of stopping motorists
because of their ethnicity.

"We're glad it was brought to our attention," Brown said. "The bottom
line is that the Forest Service does not in any way condone the
singling out of any persons by race. (Officers) have been advised to
avoid any perception of any singling out."

But critics of racial profiling were angry after learning of the
order.

"That's obscene," said Eva Paterson, executive director of the San
Francisco-based Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights. "I'm not surprised
that it happens. I'm surprised someone was stupid enough to put it in
writing."

"Sadly, but true, it's normal that they stereotype Latinos or African
Americans," said Silvia Bueno of the Chicano Action Center. "It's sort
of a stereotype that Latinos are involved in drugs."

Racial profiling remains controversial nationally and in California,
where scores of law enforcement agencies have volunteered to collect
data on police stops to determine the extent of the practice.

Gov. Davis last month signed a bill that requires officers to hand out
business cards and sets up a study of collected data from some cities.
Critics, though, said the action did not go far enough.

The Forest Service memo stated, "Officer Safety Tip, Recently one
Hispanic male was concealing a .40 cal. glock handgun in his groin
area. The gun was loaded but not chambered. That arrest consisted of
approximately 30-40 lbs of processed dope with a shotgun inside the
trunk."

It ended with the statement about vehicle stops.

The Mendocino National Forest - a million acres of land in six
counties about 140 miles north of San Francisco - is known for its
camping, hiking and hunting.

The marijuana crackdown is a response to an increase in cultivation in
national parks that law enforcement agencies tie to Mexican nationals,
said Jerry Moore, special agent-in-charge of the region for the Forest
Service.

The memo states that, "Suspicious vehicles that are heading down from
the forest during these hours (8 p.m. to 10 a.m.) will be monitored to
develop probable cause for stop."

Moore called the inclusion of race at the end of the memo an "innocent
mistake that shouldn't have been put in there in that way." He said
the order could have said "a vehicle stop with probable cause would be
(field interrogated) with normal procedure."

Moore said the directive was written by a supervising officer, whose
name was not released.

"We have already advised him that this is incorrect," he said. "His
motive was one of officer and public safety . . . It will not happen
again."

Moore said he had not heard any complaints from officers who received
the memo. He said he did not believe any of the officers assigned to
the operation were Latino.

Tim Crews, the newspaper publisher, editor and reporter who
ob

tained the memo, made national news earlier this year when he was
ordered to jail for five days for failing to reveal confidential sources.

He said that although the story would lead the Friday edition of the
Sacramento Valley Mirror, he alerted other news agencies Thursday,
costing himself a scoop.

"If we can save one or two people from being rousted unnecessarily,
that's a good thing," Crews said. 
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