KINGSTON REBUTS RACE CLAIMS

KINGSTON - The way Tesfa Walters sees it, he was arrested because he
wanted a soda from a Turkey Hill Minit Market.

There, Kingston police officer Ed Palka saw Walters enter a vehicle
driven by a female on Sept. 8, 2004. Minutes later, both he and the
woman were arrested on drug charges that resulted from a traffic stop
for failing to use a turn signal.

For Palka, it was yet another successful drug bust. But Walters says
he sees it as something else: He believes he was targeted because he is black.

Walters was among three black males who, in interviews with the Times
Leader, recently accused Palka of targeting them for traffic stops
based more on their race than the motor vehicle violation committed.

Kingston officials vehemently deny the claim, calling it an
"insulting" and unjustified smear on a dedicated officer with an
exemplary record.

How can the public determine whether either opinion is justified?

The answer is, it can't. At least not with the data available.

Kingston, like many municipalities, does not track the race and sex
of every driver who is stopped on a traffic violation.

The only area police agency known to track the race of all motorists
stopped is the Pennsylvania State Police, which instituted a program in 2002.

Tabbed the "Project on Police-Citizen Contacts," the program was
initiated in response to concerns about racial profiling raised here
and in other states. It involves a highly complex analysis of all
traffic stops that takes into account relevant factors, other than
race, that might play a role in a trooper's decision to stop and/or
search a vehicle.

The results in both years of the study showed no racial disparity in
the number of white and minority drivers who were given citations or
warnings. When it came to searches, however, black and Hispanic
motorists were roughly three times more likely to be searched than
white drivers.

While acknowledging racial disparities exist for searches, the report
concluded that it could not determine if those disparities were due
to discrimination because of the numerous factors that could
influence a trooper's decision. Those factors include the behavior of
a motorist that might cause suspicion. Still, the police say the
results warrant further investigation to better identify what
troopers define as "suspicious" behavior.

In Kingston, Mayor James Haggerty said he sees no need to create a
similar program unless there is concrete evidence to indicate there
might be a problem.

What would that evidence be?

Too many cases being thrown out because of problems with the arrests,
or multiple complaints from motorists who were searched and no
contraband was found, he said. Neither has happened with arrests made
by Palka, or any other officer on the force, he said.

Haggerty said findings of a Times Leader review of 242 arrests Palka
made since 2000 bolster his belief that race does not play a factor
in his arrests.

The review showed that of the 242 people arrested, 144, or 59.5
percent, were white; 72, or 29.7 percent, were black and 11, or 4.5
percent, were Hispanic. The race of the remaining 15 defendants could
not be determined from court records.

When the data are further broken down into drug arrests that resulted
from traffic stops and suspicious activity witnessed on patrol, the
racial mix is nearly evenly split, with 52 white defendants and 49
black defendants. There was also one Hispanic and one person whose
race was not indicated on arrest papers.

In Walters' case, Palka noticed a bulge in Walters' pocket after he
asked him to exit the vehicle after the traffic stop, according to
the arrest affidavit. Concerned that Walters kept reaching for his
pocket, Palka searched him and found marijuana and cocaine.

Walters didn't deny he had drugs on him. He maintained he should
never have been searched in the first place because he had done nothing wrong

Haggerty said he gives little credence to allegations made by people
who are charged with crimes. Palka, he said, is vigilant at stopping
drivers who commit motor vehicle violations, regardless of their
race. The fact those complaining were arrested prove his suspicion of
criminal activity was accurate.

"Our obligation is to ensure the law is being enforced correctly and
fairly without regard to ethnic background or race. If I thought
there was a problem, I'd be the first one to seek to remedy the
problem," he said. "You have to trust the officer's professional judgment."