The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“RACIAL PROFILING” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E2200 on Dec. 4, 2001.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
RACIAL PROFILING
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HON. JAMES A. TRAFICANT, JR.
of ohio
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, December 4, 2001
Mr. TRAFICANT. Mr. Speaker, on Tuesday, June 6, I inserted the letter of Gerald Beulah, Jr., to the Boardman Police Department. This letter regarded ``racial profiling'' by the Boardman Police Department.
Today I would like to insert the response to Mr. Beulah's letter by the Boardman Police Department.
House of Representatives,
Washington, DC, June 14, 2001.Mr. Jeffrey L. Patterson,Chief of Police, Boardman Township Police Department,
Youngstown, OH.
Dear Mr. Patterson: Thank you for your response to Mr. Gerald Beulah regarding his racial profiling case. I received a copy of your response, and it will be submitted into the Congressional Record.
Please understand that this problem will not be resolved simply by submitting your response into the Record. The fact still remains that Mr. Beulah was pulled over a total of four times, and was never issued a citation. As former Sheriff of Mahoning County, I am very well aware of the perceptions that the public has about officers of the law. I am also aware of the fact that racial profiling does, in fact, exist in many cities across the country. However, as Sheriff, I always demanded that my officers convey professionalism and respect to all the citizens of the Mahoning Valley, and as the Representative of the 17th Congressional District, I am demanding the same of you and your officers. Anything less is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.
Again, thank you for your letter, and I hope that you will continue to look into Mr. Beulah's case so that the same incident does not occur again. Should you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact my office.
Sincerely,
James A. Traficant, Jr.,
Member of Congress.
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Boardman Township
Police Department,
Boardman, OH, June 4, 2001.Mr. Gerald Beulah, Jr.,Youngstown, OH.
Dear Mr. Beulah: I received your letter last Tuesday afternoon and immediately initiated an inquiry into the issues you raised. I am writing to advise you of my preliminary findings and to invite you to meet with me or my staff to discuss your concerns in greater detail.
First, let me say that yours is the only allegation of
``racial profiling'' by Boardman police I have received in the nearly six months I have been chief of police here. From the portions of the Robert Mangino and Dan Ryan shows on WKBN-AM Radio 570 I heard, or that were relayed to me by others, there did not seem to be any widespread perception among the callers that African-Americans were particularly subject to unfair treatment by my officers. Nor have I received any complaints from citizens since these programs aired, nor have I been contacted by any other members of the media or by any community organizations on this issue.
Since receiving your letter, I have checked some of the more readily accessible statistics for indications of disproportionate representation of African-Americans among those cited by Boardman police for traffic violations. While I am aware that the data on citations issued does not represent all those persons who have been stopped by officers but not cited, nonetheless I believe the proportional representation is relevant to the issue. Last year, more than three-quarters (77 percent) of those cited were white, and less than one-quarter (23 percent) were African-American. To place those numbers in context, I refer you to the most recent Census data, which shows that Mahoning County as a whole is about 16 percent African-American, and the city of Youngstown-our nearest and largest neighboring community--is about 44 percent African-American. I have used those figures rather than the Census data for Boardman Township (2.4 percent African-American) because I believe they more closely represent the demographics of those who travel our streets and highways, due to the presence of several heavily-utilized routes as well as the high-density retail and commercial development within our jurisdiction.
However, I don't dispute that the perception of ``racial profiling'' exists within both the minority community and society at large, not only here in Boardman and the Mahoning Valley, but throughout the U.S. And this perception has been given credence from anecdotal evidence in reports of systematic race-based enforcement by the New Jersey State Police, among others, although valid statistical data on the problem has proven difficult to gather and analyze. We, as law enforcement professionals, are truly troubled by both the perception and--to the extent it exists--the practice of racial profiling. In response, both the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police (OACP), as well as chiefs' and sheriffs' organizations in other states, have developed model policies and training curricula to address the issue. State legislatures have proposed or adopted laws requiring policies and data collection, and the U.S. Department of Justice has taken action against not only the Los Angeles Police Department, but also, in our area, Pittsburgh and Steubenville police.
I assure you, as Boardman's police chief, I have been--and will continue to be-alert for any indications of discriminatory practices by my organization or any of its members. I believe I have an experienced, educated, and enlightened management staff, and a corps of intelligent, well-trained, and highly motivated police officers, all of them professionals dedicated to serving their community. Nonetheless, I routinely monitor statistical data, read arrest reports, review official transactions of all kinds, and pay attention to informal conversations and offhand remarks for indicators of discriminatory conduct. I also receive frequent feedback from the public on the performance of my agency and individual officers through correspondence, phone calls, and personal contacts. Thus far--other than your letter--I have had no cause for concern.
However, prior to your letter, we had already undertaken some proactive steps to further ensure that discriminatory conduct is neither practiced nor condoned by Boardman police. In March of this year, every Boardman police officer was required to watch a 16-minute training video jointly produced by the OACP, the Buckeye Sheriffs Association, and the Ohio State Highway Patrol, to reinforce the unacceptability of racial profiling. We have also been reviewing and revising our policies to explicitly prohibit discriminatory profiling of any kind. Among the draft provisions are the following policy statements:
Racial or bias-based profiling of any kind is totally unacceptable and will not be condoned. The department will utilize various management tools to ensure that racial or other prejudice is not used by officers in deciding whether to take official action.
Officers are expected to enforce the traffic laws when violations are observed, and to stop and detain motorists or pedestrians when there is reasonable suspicion that they have committed, are committing, or are about to commit a criminal act.
Officers are prohibited from stopping, detaining, searching, or arresting anyone on the basis of discriminatory profiling. This policy does not prohibit officers from stopping or detaining individuals who reasonably match the description of a specific suspect in connection with a specific crime, when race, gender, ethnic origin, or age are among the identifying attributes in the suspect's description.
I am sorry your contacts with Boardman police have not all been positive ones, but I am pleased you have had positive experiences as well. I sincerely hope I have adequately addressed your overall concerns. If you would like an investigation into any specific incident, please don't hesitate to contact me for an appointment. By law, such investigations must be handled through the proper procedures, and are not made public until they are concluded.
As Mr. Mangino read your letter aloud on his Friday program, and Congressman Traficant has taken it for inclusion in the Congressional Record and distribution to other law enforcement agencies in the 17th Congressional District, I have taken the liberty of sharing a copy of this response with them.
Sincerely,
Jeffrey L. Patterson,
Chief of Police.
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