LOOKING FOR EVIDENCE

Florida's law enforcement officers have plenty of things to do. Stopping
people for "driving while black" shouldn't be among them.

State Sen. Kendrick Meek, a former state trooper, fears that blacks and
Hispanics are targeted unfairly for traffic stops in some communities. Meek
says he's been pulled over himself, for no apparent reason other than the
fact that he's black.

Similar anecdotes -- and, in some cases, solid evidence -- abound. In
several highly publicized cases in 1992, Volusia County officials settled
lawsuits with minorities who were stopped without cause. An Orlando Sentinel
study found that 70 percent of the drivers stopped on Interstate 95 in
Florida were black.

Officials in New Jersey recently admitted some of their troopers engaged in
the practice known as racial profiling. Similar allegations have surfaced in
Maryland, Pennsylvania and other states.

It's time for Florida to determine how widespread the problem is here. Meek,
D-Miami, and Rep. Tony Hill, D- Jacksonville, are pushing for a task force
to study traffic stops. Under their proposal, sheriff's offices and police
departments would keep records on the race of individuals stopped and the
reasons they were stopped.

Rep. Hill said the state needs to delve into "concrete evidence, not just
someone saying it's going on, without any data."

The search for information is under way. The Florida Highway Patrol is
planning to collect more data about traffic stops beginning Jan. 1, and
President Clinton has ordered federal law enforcement agencies to do the
same.

As FHP Director Curt Hall has pointed out, the integrity of law enforcement
is undermined if the public perceives that prejudice rules the road. The
proposal by Sen. Meek and Rep. Hill will help disprove that perception or
set in motion the changes necessary to end racial profiling.