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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Months ago a friend and I went into the Mayor's office for some information. Ahead of us was a man making a complaint about the State Police. He had been pulled over because of a defective tail light. A black war vet, he had a prosthetic leg which the State Police removed to search. He alleged the officers threw his leg some distance away and made him crawl in wet grass to retrieve it. He was referred to other agencies, but if true the story was reprehensible.
I have heard other stories about mistreatment of those pulled over by the State Police. When arrested, most of these offenders are minor players. Why aren't they going after the big drug dealers and the Chicago gang leaders bringing the dope in?
Last edited by untanglingwebs on Fri Nov 29, 2013 3:04 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Fri Nov 29, 2013 8:44 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Attorneys accuse Michigan State Police troopers of racial profiling in Flint
One corner of the intersection of Bonbright Street and Hamilton Avenue in Flint is littered with debris, while other corners are passable on Friday, November 22, 2013. A man was recently stopped near this intersection for walking in the street instead of on the sidewalk. His attorney claims that he was stopped because he is black. Michelle Tessier | MLive.com
Michelle Tessier
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Gary Ridley | gridley@mlive.com By Gary Ridley | gridley@mlive.com
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on November 29, 2013 at 7:00 AM, updated November 29, 2013 at 8:18 AM
FLINT, MI – People walking in the street instead of using available sidewalks in residential Flint neighborhoods are being stopped -- and in at least some cases searched -- by state police, sparking complaints from some defense attorneys who claim it amounts to racial profiling.
Fenton-based attorney Steven Shelton dubbed the practice "walking while black" and is one of four attorneys arguing that the stops are not justified, although no formal complaints have been lodged against the practice.
In at least three recent court cases, black men have been stopped while walking in the roadway in northside neighborhoods and subsequently arrested because police allegedly found the men in possession of guns or drugs.
Michigan State Police Capt. Greg Zarotney, chief of staff for the police agency's director, said that walking in the street when a sidewalk is available is a violation of law and that the stops are justified.
Zarotney specifically cited a state law that prohibits pedestrians from walking on highways in places where sidewalks are provided.
He also denied that race has been a factor in any stops. State police policies specifically ban the use of race as a reason to stop and question someone.
"They're out there trying to ensure that all laws are being enforced in these areas," Zarotney said.
None of the men were ticketed for the alleged walking in the street violation, which Zarotney said is typical when a more serious violation is discovered.
Zarotney said the stops were part of state police directed patrols -- operations that target designated criminal hotspots within Flint. The patrols started in 2001 on a limited basis, but Gov. Rick Snyder boosted the number of troopers in Flint last year as part of his initiative to fight violent crime in the city.
Shelton claims troopers have no legal authority to stop and search people because they are walking in a residential street, even if there is a sidewalk -- an argument that one Genesee County Circuit judge agreed with in a ruling.
"If you are young, black and in Flint your constitutional rights are almost worthless," said defense attorney Frank J. Manley, who said he has fielded complaints from residents who were stopped while walking in the street.
While the legitimacy of the stops has been questioned in three court cases, Shelton said there is no way of knowing how many, if any, other residents have been stopped for walking in the street.
"We only see the cases where they actually find something," said Shelton.
A 'treacherous' sidewalk
Billy Chambers was walking on Bonbright Street Aug. 31 when he was stopped by troopers for failing to use the provided sidewalks, according to court records.
When stopped, Chambers told police that he did not have anything illegal on him, according to a federal court affidavit filed by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The troopers asked if they could pat down Chambers and he agreed, the affidavit says.
Troopers allege they discovered a .38-caliber pistol in Chambers' left-front pants pocket during the search. Troopers said in the affidavit that Chambers told them that he found the gun on the street and kept it hoping to trade it for crack cocaine.
Chambers, who has three previous felony convictions on drug-related charges, was arrested and indicted in Flint U.S. District Court on a single charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He pleaded not guilty.
Detroit attorney Richard Korn, who represents Chambers, said he plans to challenge the validity of the arrest. Korn said he visited the site of the arrest and took pictures of the condition of the sidewalks.
"It's treacherous," said Korn, who claims his client was targeted by police because he is black.
Korn said he plans to make it an issue when he files motions in the case in December and will attempt to subpoena state police records on other similar stops in Flint to see if there is a pattern.
Walking with a baggie
Michael Anthony Johnson, 30, was arrested by troopers at about 7 p.m. Aug. 2 as he walked in Lyon Street near Wood Street, according to court records.
A trooper testified during his preliminary exam that police stopped Johnson because he was walking in the street rather than on the provided sidewalks.The trooper also testified that he saw Johnson put a plastic bag containing a white substance into his pocket after troopers got out of the patrol car to talk with him about walking in the street.
When searching Johnson, police allegedly found powdered cocaine, crack cocaine and multiple bags of marijuana.
Johnson was charged with possession of a controlled substance and possession of marijuana.
Although heavy weeds have partially overgrown portions of the sidewalk in that area, Johnson's attorney did not make an issue of the sidewalk's condition in his argument against the stop.
Instead, Shelton argued to Genesee Circuit Judge Archie Hayman that state law did not apply to Flint's residential streets because the law specifically references walking along highways.
A 1911 Michigan Supreme Court case involving a lumber company defined highway as a generic term for all kinds of public thoroughfares, including streets, according to a Supreme Court ruling. But, Shelton argued that the language in the state's vehicle code created a distinction between streets and highways.
Hayman agreed with Shelton, saying that troopers had the right to tell Johnson to get out of the street if they were attempting to drive on it, but said there is no law against walking in the street.
However, the charges against Johnson were not dropped because Hayman also ruled that the troopers had the right to stop Johnson after they witnessed him put the suspected bag of drugs into his pocket as they approached.
Like Korn, Shelton believes the main reason his client was targeted for the stop by police was because he is black.
Johnson pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana and a lesser charge of maintaining a drug house or vehicle. Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 9.
Cocaine and a bad sidewalk
Draper L. Miles was walking on Albert Street near Witherbee Street at about 4 p.m. July 16 when he was stopped by three Michigan State Police troopers in a fully-marked patrol vehicle, according to a state police report.
Stopped for walking in street in Flint
Flint-area attorneys claim that the Michigan State Police are improperly targeting black men by stopping them for walking in the street in Flint.
Troopers claimed in their report that Miles, 36, of Flint, was walking in the middle of the residential street and was carrying a purple Crown Royal Whisky bag when he was stopped for failing to walk on the provided sidewalks.
The troopers reported that Miles agreed to a search, although Miles' attorney denies he gave consent.
"When asked if he would mind if we looked inside the bag, Miles responded, 'Sure, go ahead,'" the troopers wrote in their report.
Troopers discovered powder cocaine, a crack pipe, miscellaneous pill bottles, a small amount of marijuana and an electronic scale, according to the report.
Miles, who has no previous felony convictions, was arrested and taken to Flint city lockup. He was charged with possession of a controlled substance, a four-year felony.
Miles' attorney, Flint-based Peter Philpott, challenged the arrest, saying in court that Miles was forced to walk in the street due to the poor condition of the sidewalks in the area.
"He was doing nothing illegal, but walking in the street," said Philpott, who unlike Korn and Shelton stopped short of directly calling his client a victim of racial profiling because he said he doesn't have enough evidence yet to establish a pattern of racially motivated stops.
Philpott said the sidewalk on the east side was covered with garbage, debris and vegetation at the time of the stop.
"It was impassable," said Philpott, who took photos and videos showing the condition of the sidewalk.
Prosecutors dropped the charge because troopers did not show up to an Oct. 30 hearing on the legality of the stop -- an absence that state police blame on a miscommunication.
"The troopers' absence at the court hearing appears to be due to a mix-up with the delivery of the subpoena as the troopers involved in the case are currently assigned to the Groveland (Township) detachment and the subpoenas did not get delivered to them at the detachment," Zarotney said. "Our internal processes regarding subpoena delivery have been improved and this type of issue should not occur in the future."
Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton said he hasn't decided if he will re-file the charge against Miles.
When can police make stops?
Ronald J. Bretz, a professor at Lansing-based Cooley Law School, said police need reasonable suspicion of criminal activity to justify stopping someone.
"Racial profiling isn't legal if it's the only reason for a police stop," said Bretz, a former state appeals public defender who specializes in criminal law.
If a judge decides a stop is the result of racial profiling, Bretz said the judge can keep evidence found during any subsequent search from being used at trial.
Leyton said he would not allow evidence collected during a stop he believed to be unconstitutional to be used in by police seeking charges. Leyton said his office has a "healthy adversarial relationship" with the police and serves as the first line of protection when it comes to the constitutional rights of those charged with crimes.
"We take that very seriously," said Leyton.
However, in his nine years as prosecutor, Leyton said he has never seen a case that he believed police used race as the main reason for stopping a suspect.
"If defense counsel believes stops are improper, they can, and sometimes do, contest the stop," Leyton said.
What is racial profiling?
The U.S. Department of Justice states that racial profiling rests on the "erroneous assumption" that a particular race or ethnicity is more likely to break the law than other races or ethnicities.
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that racial profiling violates constitutional provisions for equal protection under the law when it is a sole basis for a police stop. Law enforcement can use race when it is a specific factor of a crime, such as searching for a suspect from a specific ethnicity.
The issue of racial profiling has sparked ongoing legal and social debate for decades, with everything from MTV exploring the issue of "Driving While Black" in 1999 and an ACLU report that same year claiming that racial profiling of minority drivers was rampant in the nation.
U.S. Rep. John Conyers Jr., D-Detroit, has introduced federal legislation -- that has been introduced four previous times -- which would ban law enforcement agencies from profiling based on skin color or religious practices four times. The proposals, however, have not been passed into law. The current bill has been referred to a House subcommittee.
The claims of racial profiling in Flint aren't the first to be directed at the Michigan State Police.
State Police Director Col. Kriste Kibbey Etue announced in March 2012 that her agency would conduct an internal review after the ACLU filed a written complaint claiming that a Grand Rapids man and U.S. citizen was detained by a motor-carrier officer and improperly turned over to an immigration official because he was of Mexican descent and did not speak English fluently.
"The department does not condone, support or teach any type of bias profiling, nor do we endorse discriminatory enforcement practices," Etue said at the time. "Any enforcement action that is race-based, consciously or thoughtlessly, is neither legal nor consistent with MSP principles, values or policies, and will not be tolerated by the department."
The National Institute of Justice has argued that law enforcement agencies should avoid racial profiling techniques because the tactics could make their work in the community more challenging by straining the relationships people in the community have with police.
Manley agreed: "These tactics have created a siege mentality against many law-abiding citizens by lumping law-abiding citizens in with criminals."
Flint NAACP President Frances Gilcreast said her group has gotten four to five complaints about questionable police stops this year but said she has not filed a formal complaint with local officials.
Zarotney, of the state police, said his agency has not received any negative feedback from residents regarding the agency's operations in Flint.
He said the Flint post has adopted an open-door policy to address citizens' concerns about their patrols. The post also has hosted town hall meetings for community members to interact with troopers.
Zarotney said that the state police take complaints filed against troopers seriously. Anyone with a complaint should contact the Flint post or reach out to the agency's internal affairs department directly, he said. |
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Fri Nov 29, 2013 8:46 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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NYC court rules 'stop and frisk' policy unconstitutional
Published time: January 09, 2013 02:14
Edited time: January 10, 2013 00:31
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In a victory for civil rights advocates, a New York City judge has deemed an important part of the city's controversial "stop and frisk" program unconstitutional. The program has long been criticized as an illegal abuse of law enforcement.
Manhattan Federal Court Judge Shira Sheindlin ordered New York's police to end their policy – part of the city's "Clean Halls" program – of stopping people outside residential apartment blocks and subjecting them to random search. "Clean Halls" exists only in New York's generally impoverished Bronx section, which contains some of the most dangerous neighborhoods in town.
"While it may be difficult to say when precisely to draw the line between constitutional and unconstitutional police encounters such a line exists, and the NYPD has systematically crossed it when making trespass stops outside buildings," Scheindlin's ruling reads.
The New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) argued in the case that "Clean Halls," despite being billed as a preemptive crimefighting method, generally leads to Bronx residents being harassed, and sometimes even detained, near their place of residence for no reason.
The NYCLU's case centered on Jaenean Ligon, a Bronx teen stopped and searched by four police officers – two of them undercover – as he left his building to buy groceries for his mother in summer 2011.
When police contacted Ligon's mother to verify that he had a reason to be on the block, she feared he was in serious trouble or had been killed.
NYCLU lawyers argued that Ligon's experience with "stop and frisk" is a normal one in higher-crime areas of the city.
Civil rights advocates including the NYCLU have long been vocal in their criticism of "stop and frisk" and "Clean Halls." Statistics released by the group in 2011 showed, for example, that the number of young black men stopped as part of "Stop and Frisk" was actually greater than the total number of young black men living in the city.
Reasons New York cops are allowed to make random stops under "stop and frisk" include "inappropriate attire off season" and "furtive movements." Until recently, police could randomly stop taxis to search passengers.
And though the NYPD has claimed that the program has stopped New Yorkers from carrying guns on the city's streets, NYCLU statistics show that though the annual number of random stops has increased by nearly 525,000 since 2003, only 176 more guns have on average been found.
Judge Sheindlin's ruling was compounded by an order for a January 31 hearing on what other measures might be taken to clean up "stop and frisk" and "Clean Halls."
"For those of us who do not fear being stopped as we approach or leave our own homes or those of our friend and family, it is difficult to believe that residents of one of our boroughs live under such a threat,” she wrote. |
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Fri Nov 29, 2013 9:02 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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'Stop and Frisk': Racial Profiling and the Abuse of Power
Study shows for the vast majority of those subjected to “stops”, only two things remain constant: they are innocent, and they are not white
April 23rd, 2012
'Stop and Frisk': Racial Profiling and the Abuse of Power
Credit: New York Civil Liberties Union
Twenty-three year old Nicholas Peart was leaving his grandmother’s house in Flatbush, Brooklyn, when three plainclothes policemen emerged from an unmarked squad car and approached him. The officers then ordered the young black college student to put his hands against the garage door and proceeded to physically search him, thumbing through his wallet before ultimately letting him go. It would be one of five times that year he had been stopped, and on all occasions he was found completely innocent of any crime. It seemed, as one officer told him, he just “fit the description.”
Peart is merely one of millions of New Yorkers in the past few years alone who have been similar targets of the NYPD’s controversial “stop and frisk” policy. Under the policy, which bases its constitutionality on a 1968 Supreme Court ruling, officers are allowed to question and search any individual they deem to be acting suspiciously, as long as they have reasonable cause. But as more and more stops occur every year, there are growing concerns that the “stop and frisk” has led to racial discrimination and abuses of power by an NYPD that has a history of both.
The policy is not without its supporters though, as Police Commissioner Ray Kelly has hailed it an “important tool” in stopping crime, and under his tenure the use of “stop and frisk” has increased by over 600 per cent. However, there are swaths of critics that include the New York Civil Liberty Union (NYCLU) and Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), who say it is nothing more than an affront to citizen’s rights and a clear case of racial profiling. In more direct terms, they believe it is, to quote New York City Councilman Jumaane Williams: “bullshit.”
This heated debate over the policy has come to a head in Floyd et al. v. City of New York, a federal class action suit that seeks to expose the NYPD’s tactics as discriminatory and limit the use of “stop and frisk.”
Key to the trial is the expert testimony of Columbia Law Professor Jeffrey Fagan, whose recent analysis of the NYPD’s own data on the “stop and frisk” practices has seemed finally to prove what many communities across the five Burroughs have known for years. His study shows that for the vast majority of those subjected to the NYPD’s “stops”, only two things remain constant: they are innocent, and they are not white.
I talked with Professor Fagan over email, where he referred me to his work. In it, he details a number of statistics that suggest a serious racial bias in policing, as well as shedding light on the staggering number of people who are stopped each year. In addition to his analysis, the NYCLU also compiled a series of statistics about the “stop and frisk” practices that lends credence to the charges of racial bias:
•In 2011, 685,724 New Yorkers were stopped by the police, up from 601,285 in 2010.
•605,328 were totally innocent (88 per cent).
•350,743 were black (53 per cent of stops, relative to 23 per cent of the population).
•223,740 were Latino (34 per cent of stops, relative to 29 per cent of the population).
•61,805 were white (9 per cent of stops, relative to approximately 47 per cent of the population).
•341,581 were aged 14-24 (51 per cent).
In addition to these stats, the study shows that out of those stopped only 0.15 per cent resulted in firearms charges. This number stands to directly contradict Commissioner Kelly’s statements that the stops are responsible for the fall in gun crime. Also of note is the fact that out of all ethnicities stopped, white people had the highest chance of having committed a crime, despite being proportionally the least searched.
But perhaps more damning than any of these statistics is the defense of city lawyers in Floyd et al. v. City of New York. In pre-trial statements they argued that while the success rate of the “stop and frisk” isn’t as high as one may desire, its efficacy lies in it being a useful deterrent against future crimes. It is a notion as ignorant as it is repulsive; that by the routine harassment of law abiding citizens, many of whom are young minorities, the police will instill a fear of authority strong enough to prevent criminality. Such reasoning is grossly unconstitutional, as the presiding federal judge was prescient to point out, and on a deeper level reeks of authoritarianism.
This isn’t the first time that ‘New York’s Finest’ have crossed over into such questionable territory under Commissioner Kelly, with a recent Pulitzer Prize winning series by the Associated Press having exposed NYC cops’ practice of spying on thousands of Muslim citizens without any probable cause. Such instances are what rights groups point to as a systemic racism problem in the police department, one that turns minorities into second class citizens, and instills a deep distrust of authority.
In coming months, the terms of Floyd et al. v. City of New York will be set and a landmark trial will begin. In court, a federal judge will hear testimony from a wide variety of individuals, including the aforementioned Peart and Fagan, as well as Senator Eric Adams, himself a former New York Police Captain. If successful, the suit will rein in the use of the “stop and frisk” and force the NYPD to adopt new tactics, possibly including alternatives that have been effective at targeting gun violence in other American cities.
The outcome of the trial may also set an important precedent to quell the recent resurgence of racial profiling by police forces in places like Germany, (who should really know better), and indeed even Toronto, where a 2010 investigation found that a black person is three times more likely to be questioned by police than their white counterpart.
While a victory for the plaintiffs in this case would hardly be a panacea to issues between minorities and police, it would, however, be one step closer to making the NYPD accountable for their actions and honour their commitment to “Courtesy, Professionalism, and Respect” for all citizens of New York, regardless of race.
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Nick Robins-Early is a freelance journalist currently based in Washington, D.C. Follow him @nickrobinsearly.
For more, follow us on Twitter at @torontostandard and subscribe to our newsletter. |
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Fri Nov 29, 2013 9:13 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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I would like to see the statistics on how many citizens were pulled over by the State Police, the ethnic and age breakdown, and what percentage were found to not be violating any laws.
Thee are parts of the city where it is impossible to safely travel on the sidewalks, so the law the police are using is ludicrous. Why don't they bust the obvious drug houses and other sites. Does that entail too much work? |
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Fri Nov 29, 2013 9:18 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Floyd, et al. v. City of New York, et al. | Center for ...
ccrjustice.org/floyd
Floyd, et al. v. City of New York, ... CCR Executive Director Vince Warren on NBC New York; ... the Judge denied most of the City's partial summary judgment motion.
Status
On November 11, 2013 Plaintiffs' filed a Motion to Reconsider En Banc with the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
On October 31, 2013, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit granted the City's motion to stay the remedial decision - not the liability decision - in Floyd. They also remanded the case to the District Court to assign a new judge. Papers in the appeal will be filed by both sides in early 2014.
On August 12, 2013 the District Court issued two rulings an:Order on Liability and an Order on Remedy. The City has appealed, and has also filed a Motion to Stay the Court's Remedial Order pending appeal with the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
Description
Floyd, et al. v. City of New York, et al. is a federal class action lawsuit filed against the New York City Police Department that charges the NYPD with engaging in racial profiling and suspicion-less stop-and-frisks of law-abiding New York City residents. According to CCR attorneys, the named plaintiffs in CCR’s case – David Floyd, David Ourlicht, Lalit Clarkson, and Deon Dennis – represent the thousands of New Yorkers who have been stopped without any cause on the way to work, in front of their house, or just walking down the street. CCR and the plaintiffs allege that the NYPD unlawfully stopped these individuals because they are men of color.
Co-counsel on the case are the law firms Beldock, Levine and Hoffman, and Covington & Burling LLP.
The Floyd case stems from CCR's landmark racial profiling case, Daniels, et al. v. City of New York, et al. that led to the disbanding of the infamous Street Crime Unit and a settlement with the City in 2003. The Daniels settlement agreement required the NYPD to maintain a written racial profiling policy that complies with the United States and New York State Constitutions and to provide stop-and-frisk data to CCR on a quarterly basis from the last quarter of 2003 through the first quarter of 2007. However, an analysis of the data revealed that the NYPD has continued to enagage in suspicion-less and racially pretextual stop-and-frisks.
Floyd focuses not only on the lack of any reasonable suspicion to make these stops in violation of the Fourth Amendment, but also on the obvious racial disparities in who gets stopped and searched by the NYPD—90 percent of those stopped are Black and Latino, even though these two groups make up only 52 percent of the city’s population- which constitute a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
The settlement agreement from Daniels required the NYPD to maintain a written racial profiling policy that complies with the U.S. and New York State Constitutions, required the NYPD audit officers who engage in stop-and-frisks and their supervisors to determine whether and to what extent the stop-and-frisks are based on reasonable suspicion and whether and to what extent the stop-and-frisks are being documented, and it required the NYPD to provide stop-and-frisk data to CCR on a quarterly basis, among other provisions.
But after significant non-compliance with the consent decree and after new information released publicly by the City showed a remarkable increase in stop-and-frisks from 2002 to 2006, CCR decided to file this new lawsuit challenging the NYPD's racial profiling and stop-and-frisk policy. |
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Fri Nov 29, 2013 9:22 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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RACIAL PROFILING Issues and Responses for the Lansing ...
www.lansingmi.gov/media/view/policy_paper/3559 · PDF file
A Policy Paper RACIAL PROFILING: Issues and Responses for the Lansing, Michigan Police Department Prepared as a Foundation for POLICY IMPLEMENTATION |
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Fri Nov 29, 2013 9:29 am |
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twotap
F L I N T O I D
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| I have an idea. Pull the state police from Flint let them get back to the areas they came from and let Flint wing it on its own. |
_________________
"If you like your current healthcare you can keep it, Period"!!
Barack Hussein Obama--- multiple times. |
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Fri Nov 29, 2013 9:55 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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This is a paper from 2000 that evolved after complaints of racial profiling. The state defended some stops as being targeted or under their STEP -Selected Traffic Enforcement Programs.
Meanwhile Flint residents in drug infested areas are angry that little is being done to curtail widely known drug operations. Flint Police are being told they cannot be proactive and some have been threatened with discipline. Third ward residents are angry that their councilman's requests for action have been ignored for over two years on some drug venues.
I hear more comments about how high up the corruption goes and citizens wonder if payoffs are preventing drug enforcement.
Will a Metropolitan Police Force be able to resolve some of these issues? Crime needs to be cut off at the head and police waste their time with these petty criminals. I am aware the State Police know about the Chicago gangs in Flint, especially the ones bringing in the heroin. I also hear they are unable to make inroads into the problem. Then replace them with our Flint officers, especially the ones who know thee community. This excuse of not trusting Flint officers because some are related to criminals is pure Michigan bureaucratic Bull----. The CATT team was Flint officers and they kicked butt when taking on the Cobras and others.
Last edited by untanglingwebs on Fri Nov 29, 2013 3:05 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Fri Nov 29, 2013 9:57 am |
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twotap
F L I N T O I D
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| Stop and frisk and profile those who are per stats the ones involved in area crime. The only way any improvement will be made. Or let the thugs run free for fear of being labeled racist. Two choices period. |
_________________
"If you like your current healthcare you can keep it, Period"!!
Barack Hussein Obama--- multiple times. |
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Fri Nov 29, 2013 10:33 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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USA TODAY had a Sports Special Report "Is profiling behind arrests of black NFL player? They're arrested 10 times as often as white players."
In 2006 then NFL player Mathias Askew was tased when police thought he was tying to avoid a parking ticket. His lawyer, Ken Lawson, told reporter Brent Schrotenboer "they tased him simply because he was a big black man, not because he did anything to make them fear for their safety."
Between 2000 and now there were 687 NFL player arrests and 294 came through traffic stops. USA TODAY noted that while 66% of NFL players are black and 31% are white, the black players are 10 times more likely to be arrested than their white counterparts (260 to 28 ).
Some of the interviewed players stated they believed they were scrutinized more because they were young black men driving expensive cars. The Trayvon Martin case and the New York stop-and-frisk policies in New York indicate this is more than an NFL issue.
Last edited by untanglingwebs on Fri Nov 29, 2013 3:06 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Fri Nov 29, 2013 2:29 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Rich Roberts of the International Union of Police Associations argues that there are other reasons than racial profiling that players get stopped and arrested.
"Racial profiling is bad police work. Situational profiling is good police work", said Roberts.
The American Civil Liberties Union defines racial profiling as "law enforcement and private security practices that disproportionately target people of color for investigation and enforcement".
Civil Rights activists acknowledge there needs to be probable cause to make a stop. Without this element there should be no questioning of the driver or a search of the vehicle. Players report being questioned on subjects that were totally unrelated to the stop.
In June of 2011He , Arizona cardinals defensive lineman Darnell Dockett made history when he videotaped and went on twitter to document a police encounter when stopped for allegedly speeding. Dockett was freed without ticket when he demanded a search warrant before police could search his vehicle or that he be arrested. Dockett stated he believed he was profiled because he was a big black guy in a black car with big rims.
Tennessee Titan's wide receiver Kenny Britt says he no longer takes his expensive cars home to New Jersey after receiving tickets in four traffic stops since 2010, two of which were in New Jersey. A scandal in the 1990's in New Jersey involving racial profiling forced a consent decree barring racial profiling in traffic stops that was not lifted until 2009. |
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Fri Nov 29, 2013 2:54 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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| Leagues are now training their players on their rights and how to interact with the police so as not to be arrested. After Trayvon Martin, many black parents have done the same kind of training with their children. |
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Fri Nov 29, 2013 2:58 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Black NFL players arrested nearly 10 times as often as whites ...
Black NFL players arrested nearly 10 times as often as whites
www.wtsp.com/.../81/Profiling-behind-arrests-of-black-NFL-players
Nov 29, 2013 · Profiling behind arrests of black NFL players? ... Mehri, the attorney, says racial profiling and guilt are not mutually exclusive ...
..
Black NFL players arrested nearly 10 times as often as whites
Black NFL players arrested nearly 10 times as often as whites
www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2013/11/29/racial-profiling-nfl/...
Nov 29, 2013 · Black NFL players arrested nearly 10 ... "Racial profiling is bad ... Mehri says he thinks two factors are affecting the traffic-stop arrest rate for black ...
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NFL Players Arrested - LA Progressive
www.laprogressive.com/nfl-players-arrested
NFL Players Arrested: Maybe what’s happening to NFL players is best understood as collateral damage of a US society addicted to arrests.
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Racial profiling a big problem, especially for black pro athletes
sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=hill/090403
Nov 18, 2013 · The Ryan Moats incident is just the latest evidence that we have a problem with racial profiling in this country. |
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Fri Nov 29, 2013 3:07 pm |
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twotap
F L I N T O I D
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"Black NFL players arrested nearly 10 times as often as whites' ...
Wouldn't have anything to do with the fact they are involved in criminal acts 10 times more then white NFL players?  |
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"If you like your current healthcare you can keep it, Period"!!
Barack Hussein Obama--- multiple times. |
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Fri Nov 29, 2013 4:19 pm |
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