The Birth Of Racial Profiling
21 years ago a television reporter broadcast a series of reports exposing racial profiling on the New Jersey Turnpike.
Former WWOR reporter, Joseph Collum, has written a book about his discovery. It's called "The Black Dragon, Racial Profiling Exposed."
Collum explained his reports "kind of lit the fuse but there were a lot of people involved over the years. And it's a story that stretches over more than a decade." Collum said he observed the practice during routine trips on the turnpike. "That was a common sight in the mid to late 80's. And we began to look at it and looked at arrest statistics and discovered that about 90% of the arrests on the New Jersey Turnpike were of blacks or hispanics."
Collum said there were a lot of young troopers working on the highway at that time. "And they were mentored by older troopers. And their number one priority was to catch people with drugs." There was not an official policy but behind the scenes, Collum says, troopers were encouraged "to stop black people and search them."
Collum estimates there were hundreds of thousands of racial profiling stops. He said part of the motivation was troopers who made the most arrests were eligible for the "Trooper of the Year" award. "It was like winning the Heisman Trophy."
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15 comments:
Its unfortunate the race of the troopers was not mentioned in the article but from what I gathered after reading I apresume they were "WHITES", Any way, if the main job of troopers on the turnpike was to arrest drug peddlers/drug dealers, then the method they used was unfair.Judging a person according to skin color,accent in speach and other phisical features to me is no acceptable but at the time of collecting data for this article or book how many troopers were blacks or hispanics? I wish the writer could conduct another investigation or research on the same topic(RACIAL PROFILING) now,since the number of black and hispanic troopers is significant as compared to three decades ago.
I think that the troopers who trained the rookies let them know ahead of time that if they had enough arrest that they will recieve an award and im guessing that blacks and hispanics were the key target or easiest to get on the highway. They probaly were trained to stereotype certain people.
QL9715
It's a shame of how law enforcemen take advantage of the power of having a uniform.Even though we leave in a society where we do not know who is who? That does not mean that every black or hispanic individual that drives through the Turnpike is a criminal.
JE7974
There are many people who are against Racial Profiling; Reverend Al Sharpton is against it. President George W. Bush is against it. Racial profiling has become a nasty buzz phrase and politicians are scrambling to be seen on the right side of the issue. Critics of profiling say that cops commonly stop motorists and pedestrians simply because they are black. The practice is illegal some may argue, but what’s more, it doesn’t work. There are studies that show in New York City and Maryland, showing that police searches were more likely to turn up criminal activity among whites than among blacks. However, I think profiling juggernaut must be stopped before it obliterates the crime-fighting gains of the decade, especially in inner cities. TS-8855
I think it is very obvious that minorities are targeted everyday while driving the New Jersey Turnpike because of race in general. As stated by television broadcast they probably are motivated by winning a prize. Sounds like personal gain to me. The power that a State Trooper holds on how to handle a stop or meet its quota by choosing who to write tickets. Makes you wonder how the system really works.. RSI-3774
It's not right for a Mentor to teach the rookies to do certain things that they know isn't right. They are there to learn how to control a situation, pull someone over for doing something wrong. Not to pull someone over and arrest them because of there color or the way they look. If this is our law system then everyone should be concerned.
- EM3583
A story like this does not surprise me. I'm not sayin all law enforcement are this way but many are. I've been, family members have been and friends of mind have been victims of some sort of racial profiling. SK
What more important the Heisman trophy for the most stops on the turnpike, or doimg the right thing. Im pretty sure blacks and hispanics have enough problems. Its a shame how officer abuse their power. T.C. 3006
I.D.8527
This is just ignorant to me. While these troopers are busy stopping Blacks and Hispanics, there are plenty of whites and asians getting away with the same things that they are they are stopping them for.And why? Because these asians and whites know that they arent the ones being looked after and they are probably getting away with more stuff than anybody.Its really ashame.
Putting someone in the position of being treated unfairly is beside what we have accomplished. What was the purpose of doing all that hard work for blacks and others to become free if one is just going to do racial profiling. The people that are doing this need to have some kind of actions taken against them because this is ridiculous.
lc9671
i absolutly agree its wrong but the people being profiled also have something to prove. The reson LEO's (law enforcment officers) profile is because of the continous pattern! Why complain about racial profiling when your actually doing the things your being accused of? dont get me misunderstood i deffinatly disagree with it but i also think the communities that are being profiled have to prove that they dont follow the sterotypes because at this point in time facts are facts and if a good majority of a community are continously doing something then the police shouldnt be blamed for assuming. LMD 7029
I am very disturbed to hear that racial profiling is still going on in our today society. These police troopers who are training these young men to protect people no matter what are acting in such manor.If it was me i would have reported the trooper to my superior and let them know what takes place on the highway.
Thomas
As a child, I remember watching entire families sitting on the side of the Turnpike. I knew then what many of us know now. You had a lot of good troopers doing bad things. I am glad that I live in a democracy. In sum, I have been stopped by the NJSP on multiple occasions. I have always been treated with the upmost respect.
That is part of their "unofficial" system. The fact that troopers go out of their way to arrest blacks and hispanics for drug possession is the reason why the drug issue should only be a health issue, not a criminal issue. I'm sure there are white police officers who look forward to arresting minorities, yet would hate to see minorities move up the social ladder. It is a shameful way of thinking.
AR 758197433
racial profiling wont stop. minorities make up the majority of the poor areas of our country. poverty brings drugs, violence, gangs, etc into the picture and cops use profiling all the time. things aren't how they used to be though. a well dressed, polite, well spoken minority wont get the same treatment as a disrespectful, uneducated, poorly dressed minority. profiling is a police strategy and honestly everyone does it.
s.d. 4954
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