DATA ON POLICE TRAFFIC STOPS NOT SURPRISING TO MINORITIES

So what else is new?

That was what black and Latino residents said yesterday, a day after San
Diego police released a preliminary study showing black and Latino
motorists are pulled over at a higher rate and are searched far more often
than whites or Asians.

Maria Rodriguez, 24, a mother of two who was at a gas station in City
Heights, said San Diego police have pulled her over five times in the past
year. She was not ticketed.

She said police checked her identification and proof of insurance, searched
her car and patted down any male passengers -- particularly if they had
shaved heads or baggy pants.

"I'm always asking them, 'Why are you pulling us over?' " Rodriguez said.
"They say, 'We got a report of a fight or loitering, and they (the males in
the car) fit the description.' It's giant bull."

Michael Shepherd, 33, a black probation officer, said San Diego police have
pulled him over three times at night during the past year. He also was not
ticketed.

"A lot of times I'm in uniform," Shepherd said, "and they come up and look
in and do a double take.

"I (ask them), 'Can I help you, Officer?'

"They begin to talk about how my taillight is dim, but they don't give me
anything. . . . Once they figure out that I'm law enforcement, they assume
that I know the law."

Police spokesman Dave Cohen declined to respond to the criticisms from
Rodriguez, Shepherd and others because he did not have exact dates of the
alleged stops. He urged motorists with concerns about possibly bogus
traffic stops to contact the department at (619) 531-2000 and file a complaint.

"If you honestly believe that our people acted rudely, unprofessionally or
illegally, we need to know about that," Cohen said.

Accusations of racial profiling prompted the study released Thursday. It is
one of the first of its kind in the nation.

It looked at the races of motorists stopped by police and examined more
than 91,500 traffic stops from January through June.

It found nearly 70 percent of police searches of motorists involved blacks
or Latinos. Blacks and Latinos make up less than 30 percent of San Diego's
population that is of legal driving age. More than 40 percent of the
motorists pulled over were black or Latino.

Police and others said it is too early to draw any conclusions. The study
will look at a full year's worth of stops before a final report is issued
next year.

Minority residents say they don't need to wait.

J. Lewis, 30, a black printing press worker from Rolando who was at the
Hillcrest office of the Department of Motor Vehicles, said he has been
pulled over three times during the past year but not given any tickets.

Lewis said that one night police glared at him as he drove by in his
gold-painted, lowrider-style sedan, then pulled him over.

"I asked, 'What's your probable cause?'

"He said, 'Just give me your license.' "

He was given an oral warning about a small crack in his windshield.

Lewis agreed that there was a small crack. But he said there was no way the
officer could have seen it when he pulled him over.

Lawanda Starks, 28, a black mother of two from Rolando who has a new Ford
Escort, said she has been pulled over three times during the past year but
received no tickets.

"You can't have a nice car and be black without being suspected of either
doing drugs or something illegal," Starks said.