NYCLU SEEKS SUBURBAN POLICE RECORDS

Apr 11, 9:16 AM

NEW YORK (AP) -- A civil liberties group filed a request asking a suburban police department to provide records of the race of motorists it has stopped since 2005 to determine whether it has engaged in racial profiling.

"Justice requires that police act on facts and evidence, not racial prejudice," New York Civil Liberties Union Executive Director Donna Lieberman said Thursday. "When a driver in Suffolk County sees a siren in the rearview mirror, he shouldn't have to worry if he has become a victim of racial harassment. The public has a right to know who's being stopped and why."
In a 2006 interview with The Associated Press, Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy said county police were collecting information on the race of people detained for routine traffic violations as part of a study of whether drivers were being profiled.

Levy said the goal was to determine whether the practice occurred and counter accusations with data if it did not.
Citing the AP report, the NYCLU filed a Freedom of Information Law request seeking records that might exist of the racial breakdown of motorists stopped by Suffolk police officers.
Police Commissioner Richard Dormer said the department would respond to the request.
"Whatever we're allowed to give them we'll certainly give them," he said.

Dormer said the department has been "very pro-active" in collecting the data.
"We initiated this ourselves," he said. "We're still analyzing the data, but we need more time to really look at it closely and do it properly."
Dormer said he did not know when the data would be ready to be released publicly.