TRUMBULL COUNTY Warren council OKs anti-racial profiling resolution

'Our community needs to begin to heal,' a councilman said.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
WARREN -- By a 9-0 vote, city council passed a resolution condemning racial profiling by police officers.
"The selection of individuals for police activity based upon irrational considerations of race, ethnicity, national origin or sexual orientation constitutes racial profiling," according to the resolution adopted Wednesday.
Although the resolution says the vast majority of police nationwide are professional and unbiased, it adds that racial profiling may be unconstitutional and it fosters discord and mistrust between police and citizens.
The resolution helps police convey to the community the message that, "We're not there to pick on you. We're not there profiling you. We're there to root out the criminals,'' said Councilman Bob Dean, D-at-large, who sponsored the resolution.
"Where we're going with this is toward community policing," he said, referring to a policing strategy in which specific officers are assigned to particular neighborhoods, where they get to know local residents.
"Racial profiling by law enforcement officers, wherever it may exist, is contrary to the public good, unjust and unacceptable," the resolution says. "Race, ethnicity and sexual orientation alone are not, and should not be, grounds for criminal suspicion," it adds.
Urges more training
The resolution encourages the police department to continue training programs, which include instruction on racial profiling, and to investigate profiling complaints.
"Council is reaffirming the administration's position, and the administration is reaffirming council's position that it will not be tolerated," said Mayor Michael O'Brien.
"I, too, would like to echo the fact that our community needs to begin to heal," said Councilman Felipe M. Romain Jr., D-at large, who identified himself as a Hispanic American at whom derogatory statements have been directed. "This is long overdue, and I fully support this," he said of the legislation.
The city police department has been embroiled in controversy over race relations in recent years in situations that included the struggle during the arrest of Lyndal Kimble on drug charges, police conduct at the former 77 Soul nightclub, and $88,514 worth of lawsuit settlements concerning reported illegal strip searches by city police.
Greg Hicks, city law director, said the resolution is nonbinding, but emphatically expresses council's position. However, he added that the police department already has a policy against such profiling with potential discipline for officers who violate it.
Example given
Hicks, a former city police officer, gave an example to illustrate racial profiling. If a police officer stops a car containing three young black men in a wealthy white neighborhood solely because the car's occupants are black, that constitutes improper police conduct, he said.
However, if that car slowly circles the same block three times at about 3 a.m. with its headlights out, police would have a valid reason to stop the car, no matter what the race of its occupants, he explained.
"We welcome the legislation," Doug Franklin, city safety service director, told council. "This is hopefully the beginning of a partnership that will achieve the ends that we all desire."