LOS ANGELES : Chief Insists Ethnicity Not Used in Stopping Suspects

Appearing before the Los Angeles City Council, Police Chief Willie L. Williams defended his department Wednesday against a storm of criticism over a series of crime documents, including one that suggests police stop and question more black and Latino men.

The reports, which include statistics on violent crime gathered during the past year, sparked criticism in City Hall and elsewhere in recent weeks partly because of the LAPD’s initial unwillingness to release them.

But the biggest furor arose over a seven-paragraph section of the report for the North Hollywood Division, which suggests that police should target black and Latino men because demographic information indicates they are responsible for a disproportionate amount of crime.

Williams said he was concerned about the passages regarding race but stressed that the document including that recommendation was only a draft report that was leaked to the media and did not have the approval of LAPD management.

The department does not support a tactic of targeting suspects based on ethnicity, he said, adding that he has been working to change the attitudes of officers who believe in such tactics.

“Is it policy? Absolutely not,” he said. “No ifs, ands or buts.”