TEEN GETS A SURPRISING LESSON IN RACIAL PROFILING BY POLICE

The blond, blue-eyed teen-ager had only one thing on her mind.

Get her nails done in time for the prom.

Little did she know, but Mallory Fitzgerald was about to cross into the
twilight zone of racial profiling.

The white girl, by going into a black nail salon, had stirred the
suspicions of a Norfolk cop.

Moments after Mallory emerged from the salon, a white female police officer
pulled over her car, grilled her about the salon visit and searched her purse.

"I kept showing her my fingernails,'' Mallory said. "I was really upset
that she thought I had done something wrong.''

The officer finally explained to the teary-eyed teen: "You know, that's a
crack-cocaine, heroin place. I just want to let you know that . . . OK,
have fun at the prom,' '' Mallory recalled.

Now, Mallory has a better idea about why many blacks feel angry or fearful
when stopped by police.

They say their "crime'' is "driving while black'' and it's based on racial
profiling.

Generally, racial profiling means singling out people based on skin color,
the cars they drive and law-enforcement stereotypes about who commits
crimes, such as selling drugs.

Mallory's glimpse into profiling began as she prepared for Maury High
School's prom in May.

She'd done her hair and makeup but wasn't happy with her nails.

Mallory couldn't get an appointment at her usual place. So she dashed into
a small salon she used once before.

Her nails were barely dry when the officer stopped her.

Mallory has no complaints about the officer's demeanor, especially since
she had forgotten to carry her driver's license.

"That was nice,'' she said. "But I thought that the only reason she let me
off without a ticket was that I am white.''

The experience, as described by Mallory, does not please Norfolk Assistant
Police Chief Shelton Darden, who is in charge of investigative services and
diversity training.

Darden said that if Mallory's version is correct, then the officer "was out
of line'' and the action ``was the same as racial profiling.'' He said:

* Citizens have a right to enter any business open to the public. Skin
color should not be a factor.

* Police need evidence of lawbreaking. Police should not stop people merely
because they went to business that's under surveillance.

* If a business is suspicious, police should not give out that information.
Such action can smear reputations or jeopardize investi- gations. "Some
officers may feel they are being helpful by taking a girl like this aside
and warning her. But that's not what we teach our officers,'' he said.

"Otherwise, police should stop and tell everybody that a place is under
surveillance, not just young white females.''

Mallory's dad, the Rev. Steven Fitzgerald of Norfolk's Freemason Baptist
Church, has no interest in filing a complaint.

"My goal, if anything, out of this is that the different races might use
this incident to understand more about one another,'' Fitzgerald said.

But he has mixed views about what happened. He's grateful that Mallory was
warned about a possible drug den. But, he agrees, the act was biased.

"Imagine how irritating it would be if this happened to her all the time
just because she has blond hair,'' he said.

Mallory has mixed views, too.

She's heard of similar experiences from black friends but often thought the
stories were exaggerations or misunderstandings.

"Now,'' she said, ``I don't know what to believe.''