Pubdate: Tue, 28 Aug 2001
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2001 The Denver Post Corp
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Author:  Rev. Terrance D. Carroll
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/racial.htm (Racial Issues)

ENFORCEMENT BIASES

Thank you for your well-written and balanced article on racial 
disparity in Colorado's prison system.

I am writing because I believe that my comments regarding drug 
enforcement in Boulder were misrepresented. I in no way intended to 
imply that Boulder is more lax in drug enforcement than the rest of 
the state. What I did intend to imply was that there are disparities 
related to how drug laws are enforced depending upon the economic 
status of the community in question.

My comments taken within context point directly toward an apparent 
discrepancy in how drug laws are enforced in poorer communities, like 
Cole or Clayton in Denver, compared to wealthier communities like 
Boulder. Anecdotal and statistical evidence clearly points to this. 
It is unlikely that an Anglo University of Colorado student will ever 
be randomly stopped and questioned in front of the University 
Memorial Center because of suspected drug trafficking. On the other 
hand, an African-American or Hispanic male faces a far greater chance 
of being randomly stopped and questioned in Northeast Park Hill.

The reason for this is really quite simple. The economy of the drug 
trade is such that poorer communities bear the brunt of the war on 
drugs, despite the fact that levels of drug use are statistically no 
greater or no worse than in communities like Boulder.

Rev. Terrance D. Carroll

Denver
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