CITY POLICE HUNT DRUGS ON HIGHWAYS

Officers are writing more tickets and are disproportionately ticketing black
drivers. The police chief says race is not a factor in traffic stops.

Wichita police have significantly stepped up their presence on area
interstates, stopping more people, writing more tickets and searching more
cars for drugs, guns and fugitives.

The number of motorists city police ticketed on interstates jumped 31
percent from 1997 to 1998, records show. In recent weeks, police have seized
large quantities of drugs and made several felony arrests on area highways.

But using traffic enforcement to uncover other kinds of criminal activity --
often called profiling -- is controversial nationally because of criticism
that police focus disproportionately on minority motorists.

In Wichita, records show that 19.5 percent of motorists city police cited on
area interstates and 17.8 percent of motorists ticketed citywide in 1997 and
1998 were black. Black people make up 12 percent of the city population.

Wichita City Council member George Rogers, who is black, said he hears
complaints that police stop black drivers in Wichita on minor traffic
violations because of their race.

"I hear great concerns about it," he said. "You would be hard-pressed to
find any black man who hasn't been stopped and doesn't think he's been
stopped because he's black."

Wichita Police Chief Mike Watson said he tells officers the race of a
motorist is an invalid -- and illegal -- reason to stop a car. He said he
won't tolerate the practice, referred to as racial profiling.

"We told (officers) absolutely that it is the wrong thing to do," he said.
"We told them we would be checking up on them."

Despite criticism, police efforts to detect criminal activity on local
highways are producing arrests and large drug seizures.

In August alone, two Wichita officers seized more than two pounds of
methamphetamine, more than 200 pounds of marijuana, two handguns and more
than $10,000 in cash -- all from Turnpike traffic stops. Prosecutors have
charged five people from out of state.

In the most recent highway drug bust, city officers stopped a Georgia man
early Aug. 31 for weaving on I-35. They seized 200 pounds of marijuana.

The two officers were patrolling the Turnpike at 3 a.m., looking for traffic
violations "and other suspicious activity that might be linked to criminal
activity," Watson said.

"Does that mean we are profiling (drivers) and trying to get drugs that are
being hauled through our community? The answer is yes," Watson said. "Yes,
we look for druggers."

More highway stops

Overall ticket writing in Wichita is down about 20 percent since 1995, city
records show, but police presence on and around I-35, I-235 and I-135 within
city limits is clearly up.

Officers ticketed 1,095 motorists on and around interstate highways in 1997,
and 1,436 in 1998.

The greater police presence on the city's highways helps reduce traffic
accidents and, by fighting drugs, helps prevent violent crime, Watson said.

The city's effort is limited, he said, to a handful of officers with special
training who spend less than eight hours a week on the highways.

Watson recently approved a request for four officers to attend an advanced
course on detecting drug trafficking, which includes material on what
combination of clues may suggest a motorist is involved in crime.

Wichita police officer M.J. Weber, the department's top officer in terms of
recent car stops that turned into drug seizures, said the first thing he and
other officers look at is the behavior -- not the race -- of the driver:

Is he nervous or evasive?

Can he explain where he is going or where he has been?

Can he say why he is traveling?

Do the contents of the car match the driver's story?

Police say they hear lots of lies. In one case, a motorist said he was a
salesman but had no extra pairs of pants, only shirts. In another, several
men said they were headed to a football game, but they did not know who was
playing. All were found to have drugs, police officials said.

When Weber and his partner, S.K. Bryant, stopped a 1998 Dodge Neon with
Georgia plates for weaving late last month, they said, the driver appeared
nervous. The officers also noted he was wearing sunglasses and the car
smelled of air freshener -- ) possibly a clue that he was trying to mask the
smell of something else.

The driver, 45-year-old Darrell Strickland, agreed to let them search the
car, police said, and the officers found 200 pounds of marijuana in the
trunk in two black duffel bags. Strickland has been charged with possession
of marijuana with intent to sell. His attorney declined to comment.

Ed Hanlon, a former Kansas Highway Patrol trooper who now works for the
Kansas Turnpike Authority, welcomes the city police presence.

"They took 200 pounds of dope off someone," he said. "I pat them on the back."

Critics question practice

However, Nancy Hollander, former president of the National Association of
Criminal Defense Lawyers, said she is skeptical there is a significant
public safety benefit to city police officers patrolling a turnpike.

She is concerned that officers are so motivated by their desire to find
drugs and seize assets, such as cars, jewelry and cash, that they violate
people's rights by unnecessarily stopping, questioning and searching
minority motorists.

"You've got city cops spending city money to stop people who would never
spend a minute in the city and never commit a crime in your town," she said.

Some minority motorists feel the same way. A check of six black motorists
ticketed in the past year in Wichita showed that about half believe police
abuse their powers to stop and question motorists.

An officer stopped Eddy L. Edwards on I-235 in April 1998 for a cracked
windshield and ticketed him for no proof of insurance. Edwards, a
19-year-old black man, said he gets stopped frequently and wonders whether
it has to do with his race.

"It seems like they are bored and they are looking for someone to harass,"
Edwards said.

Comparing the racial breakdown of people who get tickets with the racial
breakdown of a community does not tell the entire story, either, says
University of Toledo professor David Harris.

Harris believes the percentage of black people who drive cars in any given
community is much lower than the percentage of black people who live there.
He cites national figures that show 21 percent of black households do not
have cars. He did not have similar figures for white households.

Harris' research in Ohio cities showed black drivers were two to three times
more likely to be ticketed by police.

Careful eye on stops

At least one of the highways where police are concentrating their efforts,
I-135, cuts through a predominantly black neighborhood, which might explain
why a higher percentage of black people are being stopped, Watson said.

"I do not believe that we stop a disproportionate number (of black
motorists)," he said. "It is higher. I don't think it is way out of hand."

The department does not keep a list of assets seized specifically from
traffic stops that turn into drug busts, he said. But Watson thinks the
financial benefit from property seizures is minimal.

Although Strickland is black, Watson said officers did not know his race
until after they stopped his car. The other four people arrested in Turnpike
drug busts in August are white.

Weber and Bryant say they do not consider race when stopping motorists or
asking for consent to search cars.

"You cannot tell who commits crime out here by looking at them," Weber said.
There is no way to tell whether drivers are carrying drugs without stopping
them, he added.

Watson says he has examined his department's traffic ticket writing
practices for evidence of bias.

"If I find someone misusing it, I will put a stop to the whole thing," he said.

Examining the issue

In April, U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno called for collection of more
hard data by police departments to see whether and where racial profiles
might be in use as a basis for traffic stops and questioning of citizens.

In Wichita, state Rep. Doug Johnston said he wants to know the demographic
breakdown of people police stop for any reason. He wants police departments
to use their powers to stop motorists responsibly.

If police are not already required to record the demographic information of
every driver stopped, whether they get a ticket or not, Johnston is prepared
to introduce a bill into the Legislature that does, he said.

In Wichita, the Police Department does not track car stops in which the
officer does not write a ticket.

Meanwhile, Johnston is asking the public to provide him with anecdotes about
experiences with police. His phone number is 263-1582.

"I am hopeful that we will find a small problem or no problem at all," he said.

Reach Robert Short at 268-6340 or rshort@wichitaeagle.com. Contributing: Tim
Potter of the Eagle