Target: Racial Profiling

Many police departments in California and across the nation have wisely begun gathering information on racial profiling, in which police stop minority motorists and pedestrians, mostly blacks and Latinos, solely because of their race.

This wave of needed self-examination seems to have bypassed Orange County, but there are signs that may finally be changing.

Chief John D. Hensley of the Cypress Police Department has applied for a state grant so he can collect data on traffic stops to analyze whether they were made for probable cause and not solely for race.

That doesn’t mean that Hensley believes his department is guilty of racial profiling. It means only that the chief, like other enlightened law enforcement officials, recognizes the need for such a study and the fact that no matter what it shows, it will be of help to his department.

If data collected disclose racial profiling, it gives the department the opportunity to rein in the unprofessional activity.

If it shows all stops to be for reasonable cause, that will help dispel suspicions and foster police support from the minority community.

Many blacks, Latinos and Asian Americans have felt that they were being singled out unfairly and, in fact, illegally, just because of their skin color. Several years ago, people concerned about profiling in Orange County were sharing a story about a black motorist’s experience getting from one of the coastal cities to Santa Ana. He said that he had to allot about 20 minutes longer than it otherwise would have taken because he had to build in time for traffic stops by police.

In years past, there were also instances in which patrol officers in cities that had few, if any, black residents stopped black drivers if they weren’t motoring along main thoroughfares.

What is elusive is how much racial profiling actually does go on now. It depends on whom you ask. Some minority members think there is a lot, certainly more than acknowledged by some police officials who deny it is practiced at all.

The San Diego Police Department recently released preliminary results of a study it launched last year with the backing of the police officers association. The results suggested that blacks and Latinos are more likely to be stopped and searched by police than whites or Asian Americans.

The department is doing further analysis of the data. “If there are problems, we want to make sure we address them with training, supervision and, if necessary, discipline,” Chief David Bejarano said.

There is one trial now pending in Orange County in which a Korean man was detained by Anaheim police for two days on suspicion of murdering CHP Officer Don Burt Jr. Another Asian man was then arrested and convicted. And several years ago a lawsuit was filed against Garden Grove police by several Vietnamese teenagers who said they were stopped because of their ethnicity and clothing and had their pictures taken for inclusion in a book of suspected gang members. The suit was settled and the approach abandoned by police.

Hensley in Cypress is showing leadership by seeking funds to conduct a study to try to find out what really is happening, and use whatever tools are available for improving his department.

Other police chiefs should also be eager to review their operations to determine whether officers--consciously or unconsciously--are profiling people.

As Orange County’s growing population continues to become more diverse, it becomes even more essential for police to be sure that no one is ever detained solely because of the color of his or her skin.