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3 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Home News Latest Stories Emergency services, March 2 Ashland: Budget increase, swimming pool funding discussion on council agenda The new normal under climate change? Public Meetings: March 2-6 Mail Tribune 100: March 1, 1915 Crime, Courts and Emergency Services Emergency services, March 2 Emergency services, March 1 Two injured in White City house fire Family, friends of Central Point fire victim try to cover costs Feds charge California couple with medical device fraud Politics and Elections Ashland: Budget increase, swimming pool funding discussion on council agenda Judge upholds Phoenix's moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries Ballots on Jackson County marijuana tax go out Friday Brown's inauguration brings hope to local lawmakers Kate Brown sworn in as Oregon's 38th governor Education MSD considers adding a health center at one of the city's high schools Absenteeism in Oregon schools prompts bill that would tie funding to attendance, not enrollment Territorial Seed contribution a boost for SOU food program 200-plus Jackson County students miss vaccination deadline Medford, Ashland districts fall short of anti-bullying standards Environment The new normal under climate change? Lost Creek Lake algae bloom subsides Lost Creek Lake logjam could become hazard for boaters Made in the Shade Controlled burn planned for Ashland watershed on Friday State News Oregon considers banning non-medical vaccine exemptions Bill to dissolve Cover Oregon heads to Governor Brown Oregon official says he was questioned by FBI, IRS Hayes wants her private emails protected Oregon Senate votes unanimously to outlaw 'revenge porn' Nation - World Obituaries Clara "Jackie" Bean Mae Kathleen Quaccia Joseph (Joe) Torres Margaret M. Moffitt Ruby Beck Perkins Weather Photo Galleries Since You Asked Videos Web Cams Mail Tribune 100 Shareable Bank of America is predicting a massive Tesla collapse Mars One attracts science fiction geeks and people who hate society This $1 million Mercedes is like an armored private jet for the road Sports Latest Stories Ducks beat Cardinal, clinch Pac-12 tourney bye Kings Conquered Poulter, Casey share lead at Honda Oregon upsets No. 19 Stanford Kaminsky, No. 5 Wisconsin clinch Big 10 share Varsity 541 College Sports Ducks beat Cardinal, clinch Pac-12 tourney bye Oregon upsets No. 19 Stanford Kaminsky, No. 5 Wisconsin clinch Big 10 share Cal's big run tops OSU No. 7 Arizona overtakes No. 13 Utah Pro Sports Kings Conquered Poulter, Casey share lead at Honda Nadal wins first title in nearly nine months Rousey makes quick work of Cat Depleted Hawks beat Heat Community Sports Business Latest Stories Business Briefs: Feb. 28 People in Business: Feb. 28 Medford Fabrication isn't afraid to go big Ride & Drive: 2015 Audi R8 Blog: Friends Forever Real Estate News Housing prices climb 9 percent in Jackson County Big plans on the Butte Homes for the long haul People In Business People in Business: Feb. 28 People in Business People in Business Transportation Lodging gains bode well for travel industries Medford airport flies past January record Agriculture Warm winter has fruit growers poised for action Briefcase: Business briefs for Feb. 21 1-800-Flowers dumps Harry & David execs Opinion Latest Letters to the Editor, March 1 Our View: Drawing back the curtain on government Dana Milbank: Jeb Bush, CPAC pinata Charles Krauthammer: The fatal flaw in the Iran deal GUEST OPINION: Police, community should work to prevent profiling Editorials Our View: Drawing back the curtain on government Other Views: Brown's list of challenges is lengthy Our View: School attendance bill could backfire Our View: Higher education still getting too little Our View: Adjusting for unintended consequences Letters to the Editor Letters to the Editor, March 1 Letters to the Editor, Feb. 28 Letters to the Editor, Feb. 27 Letters to the Editor, Feb. 26 Letters to the Editor, Feb. 25 Columns Dana Milbank: Jeb Bush, CPAC pinata Charles Krauthammer: The fatal flaw in the Iran deal GUEST OPINION: Police, community should work to prevent profiling George Will: Two reading lessons from the Supreme Court Guest Opinion: Don't overregulate Oregon's hemp industry Guest Opinions GUEST OPINION: Police, community should work to prevent profiling Guest Opinion: Don't overregulate Oregon's hemp industry Guest Opinion: Predatory banking practices bilk citizens Guest Opinion: Is less education the answer? Guest Opinion: Bill would shore up legal aid funding Lifestyle Latest stories Community blog: How I Became Radical: The Power of Acceptance Community blog: The Guest List: Check! Review: In "Much Ado," why not let Shakespeare be Shakespeare? Adopt a Pet: Moby Wedding: Schwartz-Gibbs Food Restaurant Inspections: Sunday, March 1 Community blog: Support local CSA farms by signing up Saturday Joanna McQuillan Weeks: Cheeseburger pie is the perfect winter comfort food Page H. Onorato: Hot dogs I have known and loved Season Stepp: Tips for roasting vegetables Home and Garden Specialty painting adds wow to your walls Dear Monty: Home seller questions agent ethics Home Help: Low-maintenance landscaping ideas Garden Cameos: Winter is the time to prune How to install energy-efficient windows the right way Health Community blog: How I Became Radical: The Power of Acceptance Community blog: The Guest List: Check! Health Watch: Sticking to your health plan when your family isn’t helping Community blog: Finding Your Indomitable Spirit to Defeat Addiction Dr. Murray Feingold: ‘Beet’ high blood pressure with borscht Hiking Biking Faith Religion briefs, Feb. 27 Religion briefs: Friday, Feb. 20 Religion News: Pope makes surprise shantytown visit Religion briefs: Friday, Feb. 13 RELIGION BRIEFS, Feb. 6 Milestones and Achievements Anniversary: Hofer New arrivals: Sunday, Feb. 8 Columnist for a Day Rogue Healthy Aging Tempo Latest stories Live Music in Local Clubs HAPA plays the Historic Ashland Armory An all-new Rising Stars music competition kicks off this weekend Ronny Cox plays the Unitarian Fellowship SOU presents 'She Stoops to Conquer' Theater Review: OSF elevates the neglected 'Pericles' Review: In "Much Ado," why not let Shakespeare be Shakespeare? 'She Stoops' rises on SOU stage SOU presents 'She Stoops to Conquer' 'The Glass Menagerie' is polished and professional Music Rogue Valley Symphony showcases Anton Bruckner and Richard Wagner Live Music in Local Clubs HAPA plays the Historic Ashland Armory An all-new Rising Stars music competition kicks off this weekend Ronny Cox plays the Unitarian Fellowship Community Events Third Fridays showcases local artists Southern Oregon Rod and Custom Show Ashland's First Friday Art Walk showcases new exhibits by regional artists Jacksonville celebrates Chinese New Year Dining Restaurant Inspections: Sunday, March 1 Great Outdoor Grill offers healthful options Restaurant Inspections: Sunday, Feb. 22, 2015 Saigon Xich Lo Vietnamese cuisine The zwickels shall flow Tempo Videos Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » Obits Blogs TV Listings Movie Listings Oregon Outdoors Oregon Healthy Living Magazines/Special Sections Business Services NEWS NOW Our View: Drawing back the curtain on government ... Public Meetings: March 2-6 ... GUEST OPINION: Police, community should work to prevent profiling ... Our View: Drawing back the curtain on government ... Public Meetings: March 2-6 ... GUEST OPINION: Police, community should work to prevent profiling ... GUEST OPINION GUEST OPINION: Police, community should work to prevent profiling By Ricardo Lujan and Erica Franks MailTribune.com By Ricardo Lujan and Erica Franks Posted Mar. 1, 2015 @ 12:01 am By Ricardo Lujan and Erica Franks Posted Mar. 1, 2015 @ 12:01 am What do you think? --> Have an opinion on this topic? Send a letter to the editor at www.mailtribune.com/sendletter or email ... » Read more X What do you think? Have an opinion on this topic? Send a letter to the editor at www.mailtribune.com/sendletter or email [email protected] . » Social News p bs:newslist StartDate="20121121" EndDate="p bs:datecalc Months="3"" DateSort="1" UseObjects="1" ObjectClass="81" Taxonomywords="2325,665" ExactTaxonomyMatch="1" Image="1" Count="4" --> Every day in Southern Oregon, hundreds of law enforcement personnel go to work, dedicated to doing a professional job of protecting public safety. And every day in Southern Oregon, many of the people they are supposed to protect are fearfully hoping to avoid contact with those officers — not because those people have done anything wrong, but because they are afraid of profiling based on race, ethnicity, sexual orientation or other factors. Many other cities and counties across America are experiencing intense tension between law enforcement and communities. That makes it hard for law enforcement officials to get the information they need to do an effective job, while leaving many adults and children as worried about encounters with police as they are about encounters with criminals. Instead of waiting for a crisis, we in Southern Oregon can work together now, as partners, to strengthen trust, prevent profiling and protect public safety for all. Neither the state nor local cities or counties keep or publish a lot of statistics about profiling. But here are a few facts that suggest the dimensions of the problem. While African Americans and whites in America use marijuana at approximately the same rate, nearly four times more African Americans are arrested for possession, according to a report by The Sentencing Project. African Americans in Oregon are 70 percent more likely than other residents to be stopped at least once per year, according to an Urban League study. Nearly one in three LGBT people and people living with HIV under the age of 30 reports hostile treatment in their most recent encounters with police, according to a national survey by Lambda Legal, a public interest law center. A year and a half after an 18-year-old Latino armed only with knife was shot and killed by Medford police in 2012, Oregon Health and Science University conducted a survey asking Latinos in the city about the relationship between their community and the police department. Thirty-seven percent said the relationship is “not at all” positive, 48 percent said it is only “somewhat positive,” while 8 percent said it is "very positive." Profiling is not confined to encounters with police on the street. Groups profiled by race, ethnicity or other factors receive harsher treatment, on average, than their counterparts at every step of the criminal justice process, including arrests, choice of charges, pretrial release and bail, sentencing and supervision of probation. Does this mean that most law enforcement officers, district attorneys, judges and other criminal justice officials are consciously discriminating? No, although undoubtedly some are. It means that bias toward people of color, LGBT people, Muslims, and other groups in our society has existed for a long time and can’t be controlled simply by declaring good intentions. Prevention of profiling requires intensive training, hiring of a diverse workforce, two-way communication with the community, and other measures. Community groups in the Rogue Valley stand ready to work with local officials to help make progress on solutions like those. We also invite local criminal justice officials and all local residents to join a broad coalition of community groups in supporting a package of three proposed bills now before the state Legislature. These bills, HB 2001, 2002, and 2003, start with the basics. They would establish a statewide definition of profiling — that it is, using someone’s race, ethnicity, religious affiliation, national origin, language, housing status, sexual orientation, gender or gender identity as a basis to stop, question or search them. The legislation would require law enforcement to keep records when they stop someone who meets one of those definitions. That data would then be compiled by the state, which could investigate if a pattern of profiling may be taking place without being corrected locally. The initial coalition supporting these proposals includes Oregon Action, United Church of Christ, Basic Rights Oregon, Causa, Asian Pacific Network of Oregon (APANO), the Oregon AFL-CIO, and the Center for Intercultural Organizing. A recent letter to the editor declared that the writer was pro-police and implied that anyone who wants a fairer, more effective criminal justice system must be anti-police. The community groups that want to address profiling are pro-police too. We want safety for our neighborhoods and households. We honor the courage it takes to work in law enforcement. And we believe that passage of the proposed legislation — HB 2001, 2002, and 2003 — will benefit both law enforcement and local communities by helping to prevent profiling and ensuring that our criminal justice system is effective and fair to all. Ricardo Lujan is a board member of Oregon Action. Erica Franks is a member of the Black Student Union at Southern Oregon University. By Ricardo Lujan and Erica Franks MailTribune.com By Ricardo Lujan and Erica Franks Posted Mar. 1, 2015 @ 12:01 am » Comment or view comments /* $( document ).ready(function() { // Jquery mobile is trying to style the button and leaving a blank gry button on top of a white button $("#viafouracoms .vf-comment-controls li.vf-right").html(' Submit '); });*/ » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with MailTribune.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services Home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Announcements Obituaries Story ideas Since you asked Alerts Email Alerts RSS Feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. 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