Police Chiefs to Try New Traffic Stop Policy

Police chiefs from some of the nation’s largest departments said Friday they will create a national traffic stop policy that they said will ensure that minorities are not unfairly targeted.

The police chiefs made the announcement at a news conference with minority activists to launch what they described as an honest discussion on police and race. It came after a day of closed door meetings between police executives and community leaders coordinated by the Police Executive Research Forum.

“If we are to deal with it, we must stipulate that race is an issue in policing,” Philadelphia Police Commissioner John Timoney said. “There are an awful lot of people in denial, but so be it. We must move forward.”

Public attention has been focused on police conduct since February’s fatal shooting of Amadou Diallo in the Bronx. Four officers from New York’s elite street crimes unit fired 41 shots at Diallo, an unarmed West African immigrant, hitting him 19 times. His killing prompted numerous protests in New York and Washington. The officers have been charged with second-degree murder.

The still-evolving traffic stop policy would stress courtesy to build respect among minorities and police. One guideline being discussed would require officers to tell drivers why they had been stopped and to apologize if no violations are found.

The Justice Department is investigating allegations of racial profiling--targeting minorities for an unjustified amount of police attention--by the New Jersey State Police and by police agencies in Eastpointe, Mich., and Orange County, Fla.

In New Jersey, Gov. Christine Todd Whitman fired State Police Supt. Carl Williams after published remarks in which he said minorities were responsible for most of the cocaine and marijuana traffic.

Atty. Gen. Janet Reno expressed serious concerns about racial profiling in comments to reporters Thursday, and she discussed it at a private meeting with the gathered police chiefs.

Some of the 35 chiefs and activists at the conference also discussed adopting a program like one used in San Diego, where police record the race of people they stop. That data is used to assess whether police are, in fact, relying on racial profiling in making traffic stops.