N.J. REPORT ADMITS RACIAL PROFILING

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- The New Jersey Attorney General's office
acknowledged Tuesday that some state troopers have engaged in ``racial
profiling'' in pulling over motorists.

Complaints that the State Police target blacks and Hispanics along the
heavily traveled New Jersey Turnpike are ``real, not imagined,''
according to a report issued by the agency.

At the same time, Attorney General Peter Verniero said the state is
dropping its appeal of a 1996 court ruling that troopers demonstrated
racial bias in making arrests along the turnpike. The court decision
could affect dozens of pending criminal cases.

``We don't agree with everything that was said in that case, but in
view of the report and our statistical analysis, the appeal is no
longer appropriate,'' Verniero said.

The report came one day after two troopers were indicted on charges
they falsified reports to make it appear that some of the black
motorists they pulled over were white.

The U.S. Justice Department also has been investigating racial
profiling allegations against New Jersey's state police. Similar
accusations have been made in Florida, Maryland, Connecticut and
elsewhere along the Interstate 95 corridor.

The state report concludes that, while six out of 10 motorists stopped
are white, troopers are far more likely to subject minorities to
searches and aggressive treatment. The statistics show 77.2 percent of
motorist searches were of black or Hispanics, while only 21.4 percent
involved white motorists.

New Jersey overall is 74 percent white, nearly 13 percent black and
more than 9 percent Hispanic.

The report suggests a clear policy saying State Police may not
consider race, ethnicity or national origin in deciding who is
stopped. It also recommends that the department monitor traffic stops
more closely.

State Police leaders have consistently argued that the agency does not
engage in racial profiling.

Earlier this year, Gov. Christie Whitman fired State Police
Superintendent Col. Carl Williams after he said minorities were
responsible for most of the state's cocaine and marijuana traffic.

The racial controversy could hurt Whitman among black voters as she
positions herself for a U.S. Senate run in 2000.

On Monday, state officials announced misconduct indictments against
two troopers involved in last year's wounding of three young minority
men along the turnpike. The troopers fired 11 shots at their van,
claiming the vehicle had suddenly backed up toward them.

The indictments were not directly related to the shooting but involved
other traffic stops in the first four months of 1998.

Troopers John Hogan and James Kenna were accused of making false
statements on the race of minority motorists they pulled over. The
data was being gathered for a State Police survey prompted by the 1996
court decision.

Lawyers for Hogan and Kenna have said the two are being used as
scapegoats in the broader debate over racial profiling.