CHP NARCOTICS BUREAU TARGETED IN SUIT ALLEGING'RACIAL PROFILING'

Courts: Complaint Contends That Race Based Traffic Stops By The Two State
Agencies Are An Outgrowth Of The War On Drugs.

(San Francisco)- Two state police agencies were named Thursday in a
federal suit demanding an end to "racial profiling" - the use of race
or color to decide who is stopped by officers on the highway.

The suit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union against the
California Highway Patrol and the state Bureau of Narcotics
Enforcement, asks for monetary damages and an injunction forbidding
racial profiling in traffic stops. It also asks that the agencies
collect data on the race and ethnic background of motorists stopped
for traffic violations.

The suit stems from an incident on June 6, 1998, when Curtis
Rodriguez, a Hispanic attorney from San Jose, observed five traffic
stops in a 10-mile stretch of Highway 152 near Pacheco Pass, about 90
miles south of San Francisco.

All the drivers were Hispanic, the suit said.

As his passenger, attorney Arturo Hernandez, took pictures of the last
two stops, Rodriguez was pulled over. He said the CHP officer told him
he was stopped for having his headlights on and for "touching the line."

Rodrizuez refused permission for the officer to search his car, but
the officer searched it anyway. He found nothing and, after a lengthy
delay, let the men go without citing them./

"What happened on Pacheco Pass that day was illegal, it was immoral,
it was raciest, and it's high time these practices stop," Rodriguez
said.

"The war on drugs has taken a tremendous toll on the vast majority of
people of color who are innocent and law-abiding," said attorney
Michelle Alexander, director of the Northern California ACLU's Racial
Justice Project.

"We intend to put an end to racial profiling in the state of
California," she said at a news conference. "The lawsuit filed today
is an important step in that direction."

The suit contends CHP and BNE officers routinely and systematically
target, stop and search motorists based on race in a search for drugs
and other criminal activity.

"No matter who you are ... if you are a person of color and you're on
the road, you are often viewed as a target by the police," Alexander
said. "This is true nationwide."

"I have only seen the press release, and no one has seen the actual
complaint," said Nathan Barankin, spokesman for the state Attorney
General's Office, which supervises the BNE and will defend both
agencies in court. "So we have no comment at the moment."

"I can tell you that the department does not accept or condone or allow our
people to stop people on the basis of race or gender," said CHP
Commissioner Dwight Helmick. "In an initial look, our folks tell me a
significantly different story. That's why we have courts."