“There is no such thing as partial trust: I trust you, or I don’t,” said Sheldon F. A lack of confidence in police can destroy a department’s credibility, jeopardize cooperation from residents, affect relations between police and community leaders and antagonize potential jurors. That racial divide has serious consequences for law enforcement and minority communities. “You seldom saw police in African-American neighborhoods unless it was to arrest someone. There was this kind of us-versus-them mentality,” said Deputy Chief Val Demings, OPD’s highest-ranking black officer. “Historically, law enforcement was a tool used to harass African-Americans. There are just no numbers to indicate that.”Įxperts say that no matter what the data show, a combination of history, personal contact, shared experiences and direct observations of police behavior has influenced black perceptions of law enforcement. But I don’t see any systematic discrimination to minorities. “And there are going to be isolated incidents in any city around the country. “I’m sure there are incidents where police officers stop a car and race is a factor,” Corzine said. Instead, they focus on areas where accidents are common, residents complain of unsafe intersections or other kinds of crime is prevalent. Orlando police Chief Mike McCoy said race does not play a role when his officers stop motorists. Jay Corzine, a University of Central Florida sociology professor and criminologist, reviewed the data collected by the Sentinel and said the numbers show law-enforcement agencies are evenhanded with motorists and don’t discriminate based on race. Of the three agencies, tickets issued by FHP troopers - when broken down by race - most closely resembled the driving-age population in the county. But whites were ticketed far more for both careless and improper driving. The Orlando Police Department issued more tickets to blacks for faulty equipment such as cracked windshields, burned-out headlights and broken taillights. Those who think racial profiling is prevalent say police often stop black motorists for lesser violations. Blacks - although the numbers were small - received more violations for driving with suspended licenses. Whites were ticketed by deputies much more often for speeding and running red lights and stop signs. But whites also were over-represented in citations issued by deputies, receiving 58.7 percent of tickets though they make up 53.3 percent of the driving-age population. The area’s largest law-enforcement agency - the Orange County Sheriff’s Office - gave nearly a quarter of its tickets to blacks, even though they represent 18.2 percent of the county’s driving-age population. The data compiled by the Sentinel revealed no clear pattern of widespread racial profiling, but did show that blacks were more likely than whites to be cited for certain types of violations: Experts who study the issue say a year’s worth of data is necessary, even to draw the crudest conclusions. The Sentinel’s review of tickets was not scientific, and it’s impossible to determine whether racial profiling is taking place by looking at a one-week snapshot.
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