ENFORCEMENT BIASES

Thank you for your well-written and balanced article on racial
disparity in Colorado's prison system.

I am writing because I believe that my comments regarding drug
enforcement in Boulder were misrepresented. I in no way intended to
imply that Boulder is more lax in drug enforcement than the rest of
the state. What I did intend to imply was that there are disparities
related to how drug laws are enforced depending upon the economic
status of the community in question.

My comments taken within context point directly toward an apparent
discrepancy in how drug laws are enforced in poorer communities, like
Cole or Clayton in Denver, compared to wealthier communities like
Boulder. Anecdotal and statistical evidence clearly points to this.
It is unlikely that an Anglo University of Colorado student will ever
be randomly stopped and questioned in front of the University
Memorial Center because of suspected drug trafficking. On the other
hand, an African-American or Hispanic male faces a far greater chance
of being randomly stopped and questioned in Northeast Park Hill.

The reason for this is really quite simple. The economy of the drug
trade is such that poorer communities bear the brunt of the war on
drugs, despite the fact that levels of drug use are statistically no
greater or no worse than in communities like Boulder.

Rev. Terrance D. Carroll

Denver