L.A. police to record racial data</span>

Published on October 30, 2001, Daily News of Los Angeles
L.A. police to record racial data
By Rick Orlov
Staff Writer

The Los Angeles Police Department on Thursday will begin one of the most significant aspects of a federal consent decree over its operations when it begins to collect information on the racial background on all people who are stopped -- even though the LAPD has no way to analyze the data. Over protests of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, LAPD officials said they would meet the deadline imposed on the city to begin collecting the data while the city tries to hire specialists to analyze the data to determine whether certain racial groups are targeted for police stops.

"There is a perception that certain racial groups are stopped over others," said LAPD Capt. Michael Chambers, a member of a task force on the consent decree. "The city is being responsive to determine if that is so."

Police Chief Bernard C. Parks, who had opposed the consent decree and also questioned what the information would show, offered assurances the program will be fully implemented.

"All our officers have been trained and we will begin the data collection phase," Parks said in a statement. "This is a very serious aspect to the consent decree and it is important it be complied with professionally."

Under the new procedures, officers will be provided a special field data report form, contained in a book similar to those used by officers when they give out tickets, with a variety of categories.

These include the race, ethnicity, gender and age of a person who is stopped either in a vehicle or as a pedestrian. The report form will also require officers to check off the reason they stopped someone, if the person was searched and what action was taken.

Officers will be required to give the people they stop one of their business cards to serve as a receipt with the date and time of the stop printed on it along with the officer's serial number.

Mayor James Hahn, who was involved in negotiating the consent decree when he served as city attorney, called the reporting "a crucial part of police reform."

"I am pleased to see it being implemented to make sure we have police reform in Los Angeles."

Chambers said all officers have reviewed a training tape and have received written instructions on the procedures to be followed and when a form is required as well as exemptions, such as in response to calls or in dealing with a crime in progress.

Lt. Ken Hillman of the Los Angeles Police Protective League said the confusion -- and concern -- by officers is over how the data will be used.

"We would like to see some assurances that this information is not going to come back and hurt an officer," Hillman said. "We don't want to see a situation where a white officer in South Los Angeles is afraid to stop an African-American. Or an African-American officer is afraid to stop an Asian in Koreatown.

"We want to see our police officers continue to be proactive and not just reactive to calls. We don't want to just have Latino officers on the Eastside and black officers in South Central."

The American Civil Liberties Union also has voiced concern on how the data will be used, but supports the collection.

"We're very happy it's happening," said Ramona Ripston, executive director of the organization. "We do believe there needs to be a protocol -- one understood by the officers and the public -- on how the information will be analyzed."

The LAPD is required under the consent decree to publish the information on its Web site, lapdonline.org.

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http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-000086192oct30.story

COMMENTARY
Sometimes Cops Profile by Race; So What?
It's not a big deal unless there's abuse.
By SUNIL DUTTA
Sunil Dutta is an officer in the Los Angeles Police Department's Valley
Traffic Division
October 30 2001, Los Angeles Times

Come Thursday, I will indulge in racial profiling. Every time I stop a motorist for a traffic violation or detain someone, I will file a card in which I'm asked to guess the person's race.

If I'm working in the west end of LAPD's West Valley Division, my cards will indicate that I stopped mostly white people. If I write my citations in Van Nuys Division, my contacts will be almost all Latino. Officers working in Southeast Division will be stopping mostly blacks; cops writing tickets in mid-Wilshire will have cards showing a preponderance of Koreans.

The people who made this procedure a part of the consent decree signed by the Los Angeles Police Department and the U.S. Department of Justice somehow believe that if I or other cops indulge in racial profiling, that fact will emerge after they analyze this data. I did enough scientific research and data analysis in my previous career as a scientist to know that the whole exercise is a waste of officers' time and the city's money. We can neither prove nor prevent racial profiling by playing the numbers game. It is a fact that we all indulge in some profiling. The question is whether it leads to unwarranted behavior.

I have seen racial profiling from various angles. I received dirty looks and snide comments during the Gulf War because some mistook me for an Arab. I was pulled out of more than 300 passengers on an airliner for a search and rude questioning, without probable cause. Since Sept. 11, people have stared at me as if I were an Islamic terrorist and have questioned my patriotism, even though I am neither Arab nor Muslim.

I also have seen how law enforcement uses the "common characteristics" of criminals in investigations. Abuses of authority by police, for example, have perpetuated the stereotypes of white cops on a hunt for innocent young black men. There is no doubt that some officers get away with a lot. New Jersey state troopers, for example, were found to have used racial profiling over a number of years. So minorities do have legitimate concerns about police tactics.

However, the Band-Aid solutions suggested by politicians, such as gathering statistics and creating laws to ban profiling, make a mockery of true reforms and are counterproductive. What we need to tackle is the ignorance and prejudice within all of society, the root cause of the problem.

The sad events after Sept. 11 have demonstrated our prejudices. People of all races are indulging in racial profiling against those who look Middle Eastern. Often, these are the same people who criticize cops for indulging in profiling.

No one is born prejudiced against skin color and religions. The human mind likes to simplify complexities to make associations with what is known and not known. Cops profile based on their knowledge and experiences with other criminals and crime trends. If I tell my friends that most of the people on skid row are substance abusers, I am not making an insensitive remark. It is based on facts and some inductive reasoning.

Unfortunately, inductive reasoning without knowledge or combined with prejudice can cause racist attitudes and lead to violations of civil rights. Those cops who indulge in prejudice-based profiling destroy the community trust and alienate the public.

Similarly, when we all indulge in racial profiling we create a divisive environment and perpetuate negative stereotypes. We end up forcing people into boxes: young black males in dreadlocks hanging around in groups are criminals; Latino men with shaved heads and tattooed body parts are gang members; Middle Eastern Muslims are terrorists, and so on.

It is important to expand our horizons by learning about others and fighting the ignorance that makes us close-minded. Only through such an approach, and not by playing a shortsighted numbers game, can we hope for an end to racial profiling.