In response to Steven Froemming's question about whether racial profiling
is a problem in this city, let me tell you about a experience that my
husband had last year.
After visiting me in the U of M hospital while I was recovering from a
stroke, he was returning home late one night along East River Road. When he
stopped for the lights at Franklin, he noticed a police car coming the
opposite direction that was also stopped for the light. After the light
changed, the police officer did a U-turn in the intersection and proceeded
to follow him all the way to our house. Not until my husband pulled into
our garage did the officer put on his lights and ask to see his license.
Despite the fact that my husband knew the cop was right behind him and was
carefully watching his speed, the cop told him that "he was going a little
fast", although he couldn't quantify it. He then asked my husband to take a
breathalyzer test, despite having no basis. Since they were at the end of a
deadend street with no one around, my husband cooperated, took the test,
and of course, passed it.
This incident couldn't have come at a worse time, as he was already
stressed out due to my stroke. By the next day though, he had dismissed it
as just another case of DWB (driving while black)...this wasn't the first
time he had been stopped in the 20 years that we have lived in this
predominantly white neighborhood. However, he didn't notice that the cop
had failed to return his driver's license that evening until he received it
in the mail a week later. Keeping that license was nothing but additional
harassment by the cop...if it had been an honest mistake, he could have
returned it the next day.
Nancy Alcorn
Prospect Park
Original note:
Hello my Name is Steven Froemming I want to introduce my self and give you
a
little back ground on who I am and then I have a question for you. I am a
21
year old black college student at Minneapolis Community and Tech College in
downtown Minneapolis. I have been involved in many different campaigns in
my
young life. I am deeply informed on all of the issues that come up.
The reason that I am writing today is to find out what your thoughts of
racial profiling in the city of Minneapolis. Do you think that it is
happing? If it is what types of things can we do to curve it? How can we
get
it thorough to the cops heads that they should't just pull people over
people that are black. I noticed in the Minneapolis Star Tribune there was
a
huge article in there about traffic tickets and that was after some one did
a study on police and race studied in the city of Minneapolis. The article
that I am referring to is "Traffic Tickets decline after police-race
study."
PAge b1 front page of the Metro section on the Wednesday march 14 2001.
Thanks for your time and I hope to find out what you think about this
issue.
DO you think that racial profiling is a problem in the city of Minneapolis
and If so what can we do to stop it? Please let me know what you think.
Steven Froemming
Windom
63A 11-6
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