THE CITY - The LAPD caught one white cop red handed engaged in the racial profiling of Latino motorists. It remains to be seen what the department will do with the racial profiler. But that's the little question. The big question is: Is he the only one?
LAPD officials have long and loudly claimed that it does not engage in racial profiling. When it's been pointed out countless times that more blacks and Latinos are stopped, and searched walking and driving than whites their fall back defense has been 1) The stops are in high crime areas. 2) Statistically blacks and Latinos commit more crimes the crime rate among blacks and Latinos is higher than among whites.
The problem with both of those arguments is that studies and surveys have shown that even in areas where blacks and Latinos are in the minority and crime is low, more blacks and Latino walkers and motorists are still stopped than white walkers and motorists.
So now that we have a documented racial profiler, the old LAPD argument about high crime among minorities as a rationale for more minority stops has sprung gaping leaks.
The uncovering of a racial profiler within the department is not an opportunity for the department to back pat itself for exposing a racial bad guy within its ranks. Rather it should be an opportunity to do a top to bottom review of records, stats, and officer personnel records to determine how many other officers may have engaged in the nefarious and patently illegal practice of profiling.
If it's determined that more officers racially profiled they should be severely punished.
The LAPD must never forget, as the 20th anniversary of the Rodney King beating and the LA riots fast approaches, that it was the issue of racial profiling that made the LAPD and Los Angeles the poster police agency and poster city for police abuse.
That's all the more reason to ask and answer the question: Is the LAPD officer nailed for racial profiling the only one?
(Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. He is a weekly co-host of the Al Sharpton Show on American Urban Radio Network. He is the author of How Obama Governed: The Year of Crisis and Challenge. He is an associate editor of New America Media. He is host of the weekly Hutchinson Report Newsmaker Hour heard weekly on the nationally network broadcast Hutchinson Newsmaker Network. This article was posted first at insidesocal.com/friendlyfire/) –cw
Tags: racial profiler, racial profiling, LAPD, Latinos, Latino drivers
CityWatch
Vol 10 Issue 26
Pub: Mar 30, 2012