San Diego Has Fallen Behind on Combating Police Racial Profiling

 

racial-profiling

In a story originaly published by Voice of San Diego, co-written by, Liam Dillon and Megan Burks, the San Diego Police Department has often failed to follow its own rules regarding the collection of racial data at traffic stops, saying the community isn’t concerned about racial profiling. A local black officers group, the NAACP and a city councilman disagree.

The San Diego Police Department and its chief, William Lansdowne, used to be national leaders in addressing concerns about racial profiling. Now theyโ€™re not.

More than a decade ago, San Diego police were among the first to use data to examine how frequently officers targeted minorities in traffic stops. Today, that policy has become the norm in big urban departments across the country. But in San Diego, the effort has largely fallen by the wayside. Officers here now track race in fewer than one out of every five stops and a sergeant in the departmentโ€™s research and analysis division wasnโ€™t aware that the requirement to gather the information still existed when we asked about it.

This spring,ย a federal judge ruledย that two officers violated the Fourth Amendment rights of two black residents, Dante Harrell and Shannon Robinson, during a City Heights traffic stop in 2010. Harrell and Robinsonโ€™s lawsuit didnโ€™t specifically allege racial profiling, but Harrell said he believed the stop happened because police look for reasons to pull over minorities in minority neighborhoods. The cityย agreed to settleย the case last month for $450,000.

Lansdowne isnโ€™t troubled by the decrease in the departmentโ€™s data collection efforts. He and his top deputies said residents donโ€™t believe racial profiling is a problem.โ€œIt hasnโ€™t come up in years and years and years in interactions with the community,โ€ said Assistant Chief Shelley Zimmerman, whoโ€™s in charge of the departmentโ€™s neighborhood policing efforts.But those who monitor San Diego police donโ€™t share that perspective. The head of the local Black Police Officers Association, the president of the local NAACP and a city councilman all said racial profiling happens in San Diego and they hear about it.โ€œEveryone knows it exists,โ€ said Lei-Chala Wilson, the local NAACP president.And city taxpayers recently had to foot the bill for an incident where police officers stopped young minorities for no reason.This spring,ย a federal judge ruledย that two officers violated the Fourth Amendment rights of two black residents, Dante Harrell and Shannon Robinson, during a City Heights traffic stop in 2010. Harrell and Robinsonโ€™s lawsuit didnโ€™t specifically allege racial profiling, but Harrell said he believed the stop happened because police look for reasons to pull over minorities in minority neighborhoods. The cityย agreed to settleย the case last month for $450,000.

Photo credit:  Keith Walker, Lasting Impressions Studios
Lei-Chala Wilson, San Diego NAACP President-Photo credit: Keith Walker, Lasting Impressions Studios

 

To read ย Voice of San Diego News story in its entiretyย click here.

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