> I certainly don't want law enforcement to stop enforcing the law... but
> there seems to be a heap of evidence that some officers, I hope just a
> few,
> are pulling over based on "Driving while black (or brown, or ....). In
> order for the people whom they serve to have confidence in the police,
> the
> force needs to be perceived as acting in an evenhanded manner.
>
I think that we need some real data on this to see whether or not the
'few bad apples' scenario is correct or the 'systematic police racism'
scenario is correct. I think that the Grey-Berglin bill which requires
state-wide, mandatory collection of stops and searches by race is the only
way we're going to be able to see what's actually going on. Until we have
the actual data on how police racism works (and in either case there is in
fact structural police racism either from allowing individual officers to
behave in such a manner or through systematic practices), we are going to
be working blindly in trying to come up with reforms to stop it. I hope
that we can have some real pressure to pass this bill.
Robert Wood St Paul Resident, Anti-totalitarian marxist, green party
member, and janitor/student at university of minnesota
Be Reasonable, Demand the Impossible!
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