LOITERING LAW NOW PERMANENT

Council OKs It Despite Racism Charges

Rejecting charges that the city's loitering ordinance is racist, the City
Council voted 11-7 to remove a sunset provision and extend the law
indefinitely.

During more than 90 minutes of often testy debate, progressive members of
the council grilled Police Chief Richard Williams, who is black, on data
showing the law has been used overwhelmingly against people of color. They
also asked for proof that the law has improved public safety.

But other members rushed to the chief's defense and argued that people
living in challenged neighborhoods deserved to have a tool to control
open-air drug dealing and the violence that often accompanies such activity.

"Who do we want to protect?" asked Ald. Dorothy Borchardt, who claimed the
law has worked in her north side district. "The children and families who
live in these neighborhoods, or the drug dealers?"

In making the law permanent, the council rejected the recommendation of the
Equal Opportunities Commission, the lead committee charged with reviewing
the law.

Bert Zipperer, chair of the commission, said after the vote that the
council's action was shameful.

"The racial impact of this is unconscionable," he said. "This will do
nothing to improve neighborhood safety. It will, however, severely impact
people of color."

The loitering law, enacted in 1997, makes it illegal to loiter for the
purpose of illegal drug activity.

In 2001, 80 percent of the citations issued under the law were issued to
African Americans, even though blacks make up just 6.7 percent of Madison's
population. In 2000, 87 percent of the citations were issued to African
Americans.

Williams said the Police Department told the council from the outset that
African-American men were going to be targeted because they are the ones
dealing drugs in minority neighborhoods.

"We were upfront about that," he said.

And he said the ordinance was created at the request of residents of those
challenged neighborhoods because they didn't feel safe.

But Kabzuag Vaj, who represents the Asian Freedom Project, a group looking
at racial profiling in the community, said he resented the chief's
suggestion that all individuals living in Madison's low-income communities
supported the law.

"We are from low-income communities," she said. "We understand the impact
drugs have on our community. We want safety."

But, she added, "We don't want to be policed 24 hours a day."