Congressman Sees Bias in Chicago Traffic Stop

Congressman Sees Bias in Chicago Traffic Stop

By CATRIN EINHORN
Published: November 24, 2007


CHICAGO, Nov. 23 — A black Congressman who was issued a ticket this week after being pulled over while driving with three black passengers has accused the Chicago police of racial profiling in the traffic stop.

The representative, Danny K. Davis, Democrat of Illinois, said he was driving his Mercury Grand Marquis just after midnight Monday on the city’s West Side when two police officers pulled him over and asked to see his driver’s license and proof of insurance.

When Mr. Davis asked why they had stopped him, he said, they accused him of weaving, and they ticketed him for driving left of the center line.

Mr. Davis says he did not commit any traffic violation.

“I just could not believe it,” he said Friday. “I had to conclude that race had to have entered the picture, and that the only reason we were stopped is that there were four African-Americans a little after midnight, in a car going down the street. And it really breaks my heart to have to arrive at that conclusion, but I can’t conclude anything else.”

more...

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/24/us/24chicago.html?ref=us

legitimately doing something wrong, I imagine we wouldn't have heard about it. But I don't blame him one bit for bringing attention to this. I'm sure it happens often, too often.

If he went "left of the center line" it should be clearly apparent on the dash-cam. If it isn't evident, he's got a case.

Edit--stray keystroke.

laugh out of that at the station house...

and i'm not sure if chicago cops even have cameras in their cars- i've never seen footage from one on the news.

violation when the car goes, say, around a corner, assuming the car did have a camera installed, then it's time to smell a rat. And if they don't have video of the guy going over the line, my take is, they're fucked--it's just too suspicious. Without a dashcam, even if he did touch the centerline, the cops would have been smarter to warn him and let the guy go, rather than ticket him.

The police started getting dashcams a while back for EXACTLY that 'racial profiling' reason, interestingly enough-- http://www.il.gov/pressreleases/ShowPressRelease.cfm?RecNum=4570&SubjectID=17

But not all their cars have them yet. They just signed a contract to get a shitload more: http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/632111,CST-NWS-camera02.article

Here's the most INTERESTING thing, though--the city is one of the most heavily surveilled in the nation, with a whole system of THOUSANDS of cameras blanketing the city.

http://www.defensetech.org/archives/001537.html

Bet the video from the police dash cam mysteriously "disappears."

It's "Put Up or Shut Up" time.

The first thing the lawyer for the rep will do is ask to see that video.

i've never seen any footage being used on the news.

I'm not sure about the west side, but I don't see why they'd be any different.

do`t drive in the other lane when you want to make a turn..do`t go to the police station and demand the two cops who pulled you over to be pulled off the street to answer to your questions. a big much to do about nothing.

When it wasn't you and you're not a minority.

he says Illinois has a long history of harrassing black politicans.

A study prompted by a 1994 lawsuit and submitted in 1999 by the ACLU brought to light the pervasiveness of racial profiling on Illinois roads. Experts concluded that among state troopers, especially those assigned to a drug interdiction program called “Operation Valkyrie,” racial profiling is a common practice.

- Although Hispanics comprise less than 8% of the Illinois population, and take fewer than 3% of the personal vehicle trips in Illinois, they comprise 27% of the searches conducted by Valkyrie officers. In the area surrounding East St. Louis, Hispanics comprise less than 1% of the local driving-age population but comprise 41% of the searches.

- Even though African Americans comprise less than 15% of the Illinois population and take approximately 10% of the personal vehicle trips in Illinois, they comprise 23% of the searches conducted by Valkyrie officers.

- While troopers ask a higher percentage of Hispanic drivers than white drivers for consent to search their vehicles, they find contraband in a lower percentage of the vehicles of Hispanic drivers. This demonstrates that searches are based on race, not results.

http://www.aclu-il.org/legal/highschool/students/racialprofiling.shtml

it wasn't on the west side, but rather up north in skokie- i got off the edens at about 3 am, on my way home- we lived in evanston at the time. after about 6 blocks on dempster, i got pulled over, by a cop who claimed i was going 70mph, and had gone thru a red light- none of it was true- i was driving a beat-up vw rabbit, and the cop was fishing for a dui. i wasn't drunk- so the cop let me go without a ticket- even though i had supposedly been flying down dempster thru red lights at 70mph...:eyes: