POLICE SERGEANT CLAIMS RACIAL PROFILING

Officer Sues Over County Police Stops

LOUISVILLE - A city police sergeant filed a federal lawsuit against
the Jefferson County Police Department and two of its officers,
claiming he was a victim of racial profiling.

Sgt. Lopez High, who is African-American, filed the lawsuit Friday in
U.S. District Court alleging his civil rights were violated last July
by two county police officers. The officers pulled up when Sgt.
High's car broke down and questioned him as though he were a
"suspected drug dealer," Sgt. High's attorney Thomas Clay told The
Courier-Journal.

Two weeks later, the lawsuit claims, Sgt. High was the subject of
profiling again when one of the officers from the earlier incident
pulled him over.

Sgt. High is asking for $250,000 in damages.

The lawsuit names Jefferson County Police officers Mark Fuchs and
Steve Moran - who are both white - as defendants, as well as the
department.

In the lawsuit, Sgt. High claims he was "deprived of his right to be
free from unreasonable searches and seizures" when his car broke down
on Fern Creek Road on July 14 last year.

As the car was about to be towed, officers Fuchs and Moran "pulled up
and were kind of scoping the car," Officer Moran said. They noticed
that his vehicle registration had expired and ordered him to produce
a current decal, which he did, Mr. Clay said. When they asked him to
put the decal on his license plate, Sgt. High refused, explaining
that he would comply after the car was hauled away, Mr. Clay said.

During the incident, the lawsuit alleges, Officer Fuchs called Sgt.
High "boy" and used profanity.

Jefferson County Police Chief William Carcara, in a letter addressed
to Sgt. High and dated Aug. 7, said Officer Fuchs would receive an
oral reprimand and that Officer Moran and the officers' sergeant were
exonerated in the incident. The document was provided to The
Courier-Journal by Mr. Clay.

"We cannot comment on any pending litigation at this time," said
Officer Stacey Redmon, a Jefferson County Police spokesman.

The Jefferson County Police Department in December began documenting
traffic and pedestrian stops to address the issue of racial
profiling. The department's statistics have shown that about four
times as many whites as African-Americans were stopped - a figure
close to the racial makeup of the county, including the city of
Louisville.