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Bill targets racial profiling Mail Tribune / Drew Fleming Southern Oregon University international studies senior Tumasi Ross won a racial profiling case against Eugene police on appeal in 1997. Police arrested him at age 15 along with a friend, when the bank robbery suspect police were after was a tattooed 30-year-old Hispanic male. Ross and other student leaders across the state are rallying support for a state law that recommends police collect race, gender and other data on traffic stops for analysis to prevent racial profiling. By Sara Murphy Tumasi Ross was 15, black and on his way to high school track practice when Eugene police stopped to question him and a friend about a bank robbery a mile away. The suspect, Ross says, was described as a 30-something Hispanic male with tattoos on his neck and hands. Ross and his buddy didn�t fit the bill. Ross says it didn�t matter. "We were slammed on the ground with guns to our heads, put in handcuffs," recounts the Southern Oregon University senior, now 21. Ross believed he was a victim of racial profiling and his family sued the city of Eugene for false arrest. He won the case on appeal in 1997. Now vice president of the Black Student Union at SOU, Ross and other student leaders across the state are rallying support for House Bill 2441, which would set up a voluntary program for law enforcement agencies to collect and report racial data for all traffic stops. Supporters of the bill, proposed by Eugene�s Democratic Rep. Vicki Walker, say the extent of racial profiling in Oregon is unknown. Anecdotal evidence, such as Ross� story, indicates racial minority groups may be targeted as criminal suspects because of their skin color, but no concrete evidence exists that can prove � or disprove � their suspicions. "Public perception is that we have a problem with racial profiling in the state of Oregon," Walker says. "One of the best ways to determine if we actually have a problem is to do data collection." Walker�s bill, expected to go before a judicial review panel in March, sets up a voluntary program for participating agencies to tally at least six data points � and perhaps as many as 19. On all traffic stops, police would record their perception of the driver�s race, age and gender; the reason for the stop; whether a search was conducted and, if so, whether contraband was found. The bill has been written as a voluntary program because the state doesn�t have enough money to fully fund it, although incentive grants would be available. The bill also would require participating police agencies to report the data annually to the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission, which would compile an annual statistical report. Police agencies also would be asked to adopt policies prohibiting traffic stops based on racial pretexts and to submit to periodic reviews. "The public needs to know that all of these things we�re talking about are doing the job and (that) Oregon law enforcement does not participate in racial profiling," Walker says. Since she filed the bill, Walker says 12 jurisdictions across the state, including the Oregon State Police, have already volunteered to collect traffic-stop data. "We want to be proactive," says Lt. Dan Durbin, station commander for the OSP regional headquarters in Central Point. Durbin, who has spent most of his 21-year career as a narcotics detective, says he doesn�t believe racial profiling is a problem at OSP. But keeping statistics to prove it, he says, is a matter of credibility and trust. "Obviously, we wouldn�t be prudent if we weren�t monitoring," he says, "just shooting from the hip and saying we�re not doing it without backing it up." Central Point police Chief Mike Sweeney says he�s concerned the bill is a "shotgun approach" to problem-solving that will force departments to fix problems that don�t exist. "The tail is wagging the dog," Sweeney says. "If it�s perceived that one area in the state has a problem, they�re going to make the rest of us defend that we don�t." Sweeney�s concern is that the bill would ask departments to submit to a potentially cumbersome data-collection process � and that the statistics may not prove anything. "Who�s to say what those statistics mean?" he asks, noting that numbers can be manipulated to suit the data�s interpreter. "I�m not against data collection," he adds. "But I do think you�re trying to prove a negative." Walker says she understands law enforcement officials� concern that the data analysis be accurate and fair. "That�s why we want to make sure that the analysis is done in a uniform way, to satisfy those concerns and make sure the numbers don�t get skewed," she says. OSP began gathering data in December but hasn�t started any analysis, Durbin says. He agrees that statistics can be tricky territory. "It�s a monster," he says, adding that collecting the data in itself will create problems. "You know what the real problem is? There has been real, legitimate racial profiling that has taken place." Reach Ashland bureau reporter Sara Murphy at 482-4655, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.