Kathy E <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
Here is the next case that CTV is showing, if your interested and would
like me to post summaries please let me know.
=========================
In a case that may reveal the racial bias police officers use when
pulling over motorists, an African-American police officer faces two
charges of battery for allegedly hitting two white sheriff's officers
after they stopped him for various traffic violations. Major Aaron
Campbell claims that he was not violating any traffic laws and that the
white officers only stopped him because he is black. Campbell, a 25-year
police veteran, also claims that the police initiated the attack on him
after they had tried to illegally arrest him. A camera mounted on
the sheriff officers' patrol car captured the entire incident on
videotape that will be played during trial.
Fight on the Florida Turnpike
According to reports, on April 9, 1997, Campbell, 55, was driving on the
Florida Turnpike when Orange County officer Richard Mankewich pulled him
over for allegedly failing to use a turn signal before changing lanes.
Campbell, who was on his way to work on a house that he was building,
got out of his car, and identified himself as an off-duty police officer
and gave Officer Mankewich his driver's license. Campbell insisted that
he had not committed any traffic violations, but Mankewich kept writing
the ticket, also claimed that Campbell's license tag was obscured. And
Mankewich was not affected by the fact that Campbell was a fellow
officer. As Mankewich proceeded to write the tickets, Campbell
apparently lost his temper.
The police videotape shows Campbell cursing at Mankewich, saying,
"You're a f___ing liar, man. I gave a signal. I gave a left signal...You
ain't giving me no f___ing ticket." Campbell's driver's license was
clamped to his clipboard, and the defendant grabbed his license off
Mankewich's clipboard. Throughout this encounter, Campbell still had his
gun in his pouch; he backed away from Mankewich, leaned on the nearby
guardrail and demanded to see a supervisor. "I am the supervisor...you
need to give me your license or you're going to jail," Mankewich said as
he called by backup officers.
One of the deputies who arrived on the scene tried to arrest Campbell
for resisting arrest, but he began to walk away. This officer then
jumped on Campbell's back while Mankewich apparently sprayed the
defendant in the face with pepper spray. Campbell continued to resist
and ran away, with three officers running after him. He surrendered to
officers after running for about a quarter-mile.
Profiling...or a Case of "Break the Law, Go to Jail?"
Campbell says that he was a victim of racist "profiling" techniques used
by Florida police officers. Profiling refers a practice where officers
use race as the principal factor in making traffic stops and trying to
apprehend drug traffickers. A 1977 report by the U.S. Department of
Justice revealed that Volusia County's Selective Enforcement Team used
race as its chief factor in making traffic stops and that officers often
made up false reasons to stop cars driven by black or Hispanic motorists
in order to search for drugs (Volusia County is near Orange County,
where this trial will be taking place.) The Orlando Sentinel revealed
profiling practices of the Volusia officers in a Pulitzer
prize-winning investigative series. The newspaper's investigation showed
that while blacks and Hispanics made up only five percent of the drivers
on the road, they were involved in 70 percent of the traffic stops.
Orange County Sheriff Commander and spokesman Steve Jones reportedly
denied that his officers used profiling techniques in an interview with
ABC's Nightline and said the Campbell case was a simple case of "Break
the law, go to jail." Jones said that Campbell's behavior warranted his
arrest and that must have believed the untrue rumors about circulated
about Orange County highway officers. However, while citing information
from the Drug Enforcement Agency, Jones acknowledged that a profile for
drug smugglers in Florida does exist; he claimed that black males
smuggle most of the cocaine into Florida while Hispanic males transport
heroin.
Another phrase used to describe profiling procedures used on black
motorists is "driving while black." This phrase was made famous by a
civil suit filed by Robert Wilkins, a Harvard law graduate and public
defender in Washington, D.C., against the Maryland Police Department. In
1992, Wilkins and his family were returning home to Washington, D.C.,
from a funeral in Chicago, when they were stopped by police and
subjected to a search by drug-sniffing dogs. Wilkins sued the police,
claiming that they had violated his civil rights, and as he was
preparing for his trial, the lawyer claimed that he had obtained a
police memo specifically warning officers to be on alert for "young
African-American males on I-68 in the early morning in rental cars."
Ultimately, the police settled the lawsuit with Wilkins and agreed to
monitor their traffic stops. However, nearly two years after the
settlement, Maryland police statistics showed that although blacks only
made up for 14 percent of the drivers, 73 percent of the cars stopped on
Interstate 95 between Baltimore and Delaware were driven by blacks.
The Traffic Stops Statistics Act
As a result of the national attention given to the Wilkins case and
numerous other similar incidents around the country, the House of
Representatives passed a bill sponsored by Detroit Rep. John Conyers
that discourages police from using racist profiling procedures in making
traffic stops and searching vehicle. The Traffic stops Statistics Act
would require the Justice department to conduct a study of routine
traffic stops by state and local police and determine the rationale for
vehicle searches. Conyers says that evidence shows that blacks like
Aaron Campbell are being routinely stopped simply because of their race.
The bill, Conyers believes, will increase police awareness of the
problem of targeting minorities for car searches.
At the time of his arrest, Campbell was eight months away from
retirement and appeared to have an exemplary record with over 15
commendations and no prior disciplinary actions. He is currently
suspended from the police force without pay. If convicted, Campbell
could face up to five years in prison but will not lose his retirement
benefits. If Campbell is acquitted, he could recover the earnings he has
lost since his arrest.
But this is not merely a case about lost police wages and retirement
benefits. At the end of Campbell's trial, a jury will decide whether
Campbell was really a police officer out of control who thought he was
above traffic laws...or whether like so many other minorities, Campbell
was the victim of a police department willing to take away his rights in
order to find alleged drug traffickers.
--
Kathy E
"I can only please one person a day, today is NOT your day, and tomorrow
isn't looking too good for you either"
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