Tag: Race Relations

SURVEY: Cops More Likely To Search Blacks & Latinos During Traffic Stops

A recent report by San Diego State University found that San Diego police officers were more likely to search African-American and Hispanic drivers, despite the fact that they were less likely to be found carrying contraband than white drivers.

The study looked at 260,000 traffic stops in 2014 and 2015.  It also found that blacks, Hispanics and Pacific Islander drivers were also subjected to more field interviews than white drivers.

The study found that race and ethnicity were not major factors in who police pulled over, but they were important factors in who they decided to search, the station reported.

The SDSU report also included 10 major recommendations that included: acknowledging that racial and ethnic disparities exist and make combating those disparities a priority; enhancing police training surrounding racial and ethnic disparities; making traffic stops more transparent; increase community engagement and strengthening accountability and oversight of data collection and management.

The study, released earlier this month, came at a time when relations between law enforcement and minority communities have been strained across the country.

Late last week the city issued an official response to the report questioning a slight difference in total traffic stops during the period in question; a disparity in report figures related to traffic stops of Hispanics during daytime and nighttime hours; questions about the report’s context for missing data and unexplained changes in monthly traffic stop volumes, and other items in the report.

On Wednesday night, San Diego police Chief Shelley Zimmerman released a statement, which read, “I am proud of our department personnel who come to work each day with the desire to make a positive difference. We enjoy a tremendous partnership with our community and that is why we are one of the safest big cities in the United States.

“We want every citizen to feel safe in their community, feel valued in their opinion, and feel listened to by their police Department. We will used these recommendations to strengthen, enhance and foster new relationships with our community we so proudly serve.”

Truthfully and unfortunately, these surveys are more validating than informative. Clearly racial profiling has and will always exist in these U.S. streets, its the Amerikkkan way!

Read the full SDSU Traffic Stops report

Black Autistic Teen Attacked By White Man After Getting Lost During Cross Country Race

The mother of an autistic New York teen is seeking answers after she says her son was assaulted for no reason.

The Democrat And Chronicle reports:

Chase Coleman, 15, was out running with his cross country team when he became lost and disoriented.

Witnesses report that the boy who does not speak and has autism, was then assaulted by a white man who told him to “get out of here” and shoved him to the ground.

An allegation of an assault on an autistic teenager from Syracuse in Cobbs Hill Park two weeks ago has prompted charges of racism and favoritism from the boy’s mother and is drawing national media attention.

Martin MacDonald, 57, of Pittsford, acknowledged to police that he shoved Chase Coleman, 15, to the ground during a physical altercation on a roadway in the park on the afternoon of Oct. 14, according to the police report of the incident.

Chase, who is autistic and cannot speak, is a member of his high school’s cross country team and was in the park participating in a road race.

The police report cited two witnesses, one of whom, Collin Thompson, 31, was jogging in the park and told police that she saw MacDonald get out of the vehicle and push Chase to the ground in the middle of the road and yell, “Get out of here.”

Police did not interview the second witness, whose name and information was provided to an officer by Chase’s mother. That witness, however, told the Post-Standard that he was bicycling and saw MacDonald “get out of his car and yell at Chase for several minutes.”

“I see a grown man, who is quite tall and fairly heavy … exit the vehicle and give this young man a shove that puts him back 10 feet and flat on his butt,” the witness, Kris Van Metter, 42, was quoted as saying.

Homeowners Outraged After Ku Klux Klan Members Leave ‘Get Out The Vote’ Fliers Across Alabama Town

Some Alabama homeowners are outraged after the Ku Klux Klan left fliers around their town. The hate group is trying to encourage people to go vote in the election and join the Klan.

Several people who live in St. Charles Place neighborhood of Madison tell KTLA sister station WHNT they found baggies full of rocks and paper in their driveway Sunday morning.

The message said in part, “Black Lives Matter Black Panthers are telling followers to kill white people and police officers.”

Many in the neighborhood said they were disgusted, but didn’t want to go on camera for fear of retaliation.

“This is pretty standard tactics for that particular Klan group. They’ve been fliering all over the sate. They were in Wichita last weekend. This is a pretty common practice for Loyal White Knights,” said Heidi Beirich with the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Beirich tracks hate groups for the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery.

“It breaks my heart that people receive this kind of material, but unfortunately, this is the Klan using its First Amendment rights. So, they have every ability to do this.”

Beirich tells WHNT her agency doesn’t know of any violent situation involving the Klan.

There are eight Ku Klux Klan organizations in Alabama. the Southern Poverty Law Center estimates there are up to 6,000 Klan members nationwide.