Racism alleged in Moreno Valley barbershop raids

Moreno Valley police officers used the guise of health and safety inspections to raid African American-operated barbershops without warrants, according to a federal lawsuit filed in Riverside County.

The officers, city employees and members of the state Board of Barbering and Cosmetology allegedly targeted six shops in raids last April because of race, said lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union, which filed the lawsuit this week on behalf of three barbers.

“They rushed into the stores, blocked entrances and exits, and asked for driver’s licenses from barbers and customers,” said Peter Bibring, a staff attorney for the ACLU of Southern California.

They also asked the individuals if they were on probation or parole, he said.

“It was far more intrusive than was necessary,” he said.

Representatives for the city, the Police Department and state Department of Consumer Affairs declined to comment on the lawsuit because they had not yet seen it.

The suit filed in U.S. District Court in Riverside alleges that “five of the six barbershops selected as targets for these raid-style inspections on April 2, 2008, were owned by, operated by, and primarily frequented by African Americans.”

The officers and other agents targeted the businesses “based, in part or in whole, on the race of the barbers and their clientele,” the suit alleges.

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ari.bloomekatz @latimes.com