Report accuses police of racial profiling
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By DANIEL BARLOW Southern Vermont Bureau - Published: March 7, 2006
BRATTLEBORO — Racial or ethnic minorities in this southern Vermont town have had a disproportionate amount of contact with local police, and more than 80 percent of respondents to a survey released Monday said they believe racial profiling is a problem.
The 2-year-old survey was based on interviews with one-fifth of the community's minority residents conducted by ALANA Community Organization in late 2004.
About 79 percent of minority households interviewed for the survey reported having contacts with members of the Brattleboro Police Department in the prior year.
More than 81 percent of the respondents said they felt racial profiling from the department was a problem, with 54.2 percent calling it a "serious problem," according to the survey.
"There are a lot of anecdotal stories out there," said ALANA Executive Director Curtiss Reed Jr. "We wanted to look beyond those stories and at the scientific data of what their experiences have been."
The survey also found 18 percent of minority men and 30 percent of minority women said police conducted themselves professionally during these interactions. About 43 percent of the men interviewed added they believe complaints against officers would not be taken seriously.
ALANA's survey was in response to a police department survey of voters at the polls in March 2003, which reportedly revealed no problems with policies or procedures. For this study, four ALANA interviewers spoke with 48 of the 250 minority households in Bratt-leboro, which Read said meets requirements for the survey to be considered scientific.
Police Chief John Martin said he could not comment on specifics of the report as he only received a copy of it Monday. Martin said he implemented a bias-free policy two years ago.
Forms to file complaints against officers also are available outside the Brattleboro municipal center, including at ALANA's Main Street office.
Martin said the "allegations are appalling to hear" and he questioned why the survey focused on alleged police misconduct from two years ago. He said there are two sides to every story, and the racial profiling allegations would be difficult to prove due to the length of time that has passed.
"The report may show a snapshot two years ago," said Martin, who added that he needs time to review the survey. "But I'm not sure if it is an accurate picture of the department now."
The survey results, which were announced during an afternoon news conference at the Brattleboro library, come just as the Civilian Police Communications Committee begins its work. The five-panel group was created by the Brattleboro Select Board last year to address complaints against officers and should be operating within the next three weeks.
But the committee does not have investigative powers to look into allegations of police misconduct. Read on Monday called for the town to reconsider the group's charge, saying it was not in the spirit of a March 2003 nonbinding ballot vote supporting the formation of civilian review board.
About 90 percent of the people surveyed by ALANA voiced support for a civilian review board with more investigative powers, Read said.
"We need to police the police, one of the responders told us," he explained.
Lynn Martin, the only member of the CPCC to attend Monday's news conference, had no comment on the report. Committee Chairman John Schaefer said he had not seen the report, but looked forward to discussing it with ALANA members. "I want to read and study it before forming any opinions," he said.
Read, who served on a town committee two years ago to study the issue of civilian review boards, made a number of recommendations to the town, including tracking police encounters with minorities and implementing diversity and cultural training for police.
Survey respondents also alleged the department was engaging in "Jim Crow practices," such as separating suspects by race during questioning and intimidating white suspects by asking why they are associating with minorities, Read said.
"Older members have told us that this hearkens back to the Jim Crow era where no intermingling of the races was encouraged," Read said.
Copies of the report will be forwarded to the Brattleboro Select Board, and Read said he hopes to soon discuss the findings with board members. Select Board Chairman Steve Steidle said he could not comment as he has not seen the report. "But I think we would be open to discussing these issues with the group," he said.
Several people who attended Monday's news conference agreed with the report's findings, including Alice Diorio, a counselor with the Vermont Harm Reduction Coalition. She said the roots of racial profiling by police are in the United States' drug policy. "The stops are happening because we are involved in a drug war that is focused on racial profiling," she said.
Brattleboro Officer Mark Carignan, who also attended the news conference and served on the committee studying whether civilian oversight of police is necessary, suggested that ALANA make recommendations specifically to police officers on how to handle race issues instead of institutional changes that come down from the top.
"A lot of these recommendations begin with town officials and the Select Board," he said. "And I can safely say there is no racial profiling happening in Select Board meetings."
The relationship between the community and Brattleboro Police has been debated extensively since the December 2001 fatal police shooting of a Bellows Falls man in a local church. Robert Woodward, 37, was armed with a knife and reportedly threatening suicide when he was shot seven times by two police officers.
Numerous official reports exonerated the officers of any wrongdoing, although a civil lawsuit against the town and the police is on appeal in New York City after a local judge dismissed it in January.
The full report can be read at alanavision.org.
Contact Daniel Barlow at daniel.barlow@rutlandherald.com.
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