HEGE URGED USE OF ETHNICITY, RACE IN DECIDING ON STOPS, OFFICER SAYS

Three years ago, Sheriff Gerald Hege allowed the news media to tag along as
his deputies conducted traffic stops. The results of this informal study,
Hege said at the time, supported his contention that he was not using
racial profiling.

But affidavits from Hege's deputies, filed in support of a petition to
remove him from office, paint a different picture of the department, one
that used race and ethnicity as reasons for stopping motorists.

'On several occasions Sheriff Hege told me to go out and stop 'every
Mexican or black guy," Maj. Brad Glisson said in an affidavit.

Many of these stops led to arrests on more serious charges, but District
Attorney Garry Frank said yesterday that some of these cases may have to be
dismissed if it is determined that the sole reason a person was stopped or
apprehended was because of his race.

'But all the facts have to be examined before such a decision can be made,'
Frank said.

Misconduct by Hege's deputies has hurt prosecutors before.

Last year, Frank had to drop drug charges against almost 30 defendants
after the key witnesses - Lt. David Scott Wood-all, Lt. Douglas Edward
Westmoreland, who were vice and narcotics officers, and Sgt. William Monroe
Rankin - were arrested on federal drug charges.

Several high-ranking officers - among them former Chief Deputy Danny Owens
and Lt. Steven Jones, the supervisor ofa drug-interdiction unit - said in
affidavits that Hege approved the use of racial profiling when making
traffic stops.

To keep the numbers in balance, Hege used another tactic, according to an
affidavit from Deputy Todd Nifong.

Nifong said he was told to 'write tickets to whites, blacks and Hispanics
to offset the profiling that he had the TAC team doing.'

After Hege conducted his study in 2000, he reported that his deputies were
not singling out minorities.

'If somebody called and said he was stopped because he was black, there's
no way you can tell that (according to the study),' he said.

After Hege's arrest Monday, some local defense lawyers said that they are
reviewing their case files to see if their clients might have been victims
of racial profiling.

Carlos Jane, a defense lawyer whose clientele is mainly Hispanic, said he
has seen a disproportionate number of minorities represented in cases that
resulted from traffic stops on Interstate 85.

'There's a good chance that if they are black or Hispanic they're going to
be stopped,' Jane said yesterday.

Jon W. Myers, a defense lawyer, said he hadn't noticed a racial trend in
vehicle stops but had seen a disproportionate number of out-of-state
drivers arrested.

Myers said that the laws are there to protect all citizens and it should
not make a difference if the driver is from such places as Texas or Florida.

'They have just as many rights as we do if we are going to Disneyland,' he
said.

During his tenure, Hege emphasized drug arrests on highways that run
through Davidson County.

Hege sent his deputies to training sessions on highway drug-interdiction
early this year, and he said in March that his department was seizing a
large amount of drug money.

Hege said that his deputies seized about $400,000 and eight vehicles in six
weeks early this year.

Deputies were trained to look for such violations as a cracked windshield
or a driver changing lanes without using a turn signal before stopping
vehicles.

Hege was proud of the seizures, and he had a cameraman employed by the
sheriff's office take videos of deputies, which Hege said would be used as
training videos in drug interdiction.

The N.C. Highway Patrol, local police departments and sheriff's offices in
jurisdictions of more than 10,000 people are required to submit data on
traffic stops to the N.C. Attorney General's Office.

The requirement for police and sheriffs' offices became effective in
January 2002. Officers are required to record information on the race of
people whom they pull over.

The law is intended to help state officials identify any racial profiling
that may be taking place.

State officials recently analyzed numbers for 2001, 2002 and part of 2003
and found no legitimate claims of racial profiling by the Highway Patrol,
police departments or sheriffs' offices in North Carolina, said Sgt.
Everett Clendenin of the Highway Patrol.

'If an officer, a supervisor or some person on the management team makes a
comment that we should stop people who are of a minority, and that is the
only reason that they are stopped, then that is a definition of racial
profiling because you are stopping people based on their race and not other
factors,' Clendenin said.

'It would also be a violation of that person's constitutional rights ...
and would be a violation of Highway Patrol policy,' he said.

Myers said that Hege's suspension and possible removal from office has
created a leadership vacuum.

He also said he hopes that Hege's replacement will set a new example in
upholding the law.

'I hope that as in any organization, a new day will come with top-down
leadership that will regain the public's confidence in that department,' he
said.