Tampabay: Police close to rules on profiling

ST. PETERSBURG -- If you're black or Hispanic or gay, or a member of some other minority group, the state of Florida wants to make sure police aren't stopping you just because of who you are.

Every Florida police agency was supposed to adopt a rule banning bias police profiling by Jan. 1. Most police agencies met the deadline.

But not St. Petersburg.

The St. Petersburg Police Department's profiling rules have undergone nine drafts, as administrators debate when officers should collect information about people after they are searched. The department also has had three police chiefs in six months.

The policy awaits Chief Chuck Harmon's signature. He says the rules will be better for the rigorous debate.

"What we want to make sure is what we're trying to capture is not overly burdensome," said Harmon, who is expected to sign the policy this week.

Like other cities, St. Petersburg's policy is meant to improve community relations and change the way officers interact with citizens. But departments across the state differ in how they measure whether biased policing is a problem.

Tampa police do not collect data on race and ethnicity. But St. Petersburg officers will complete a form noting the sex, race, ethnicity and nationality of motorists who agree to vehicle searches -- but only do so when no arrest results or nothing illegal is found.

Florida Highway Patrol troopers hand in a weekly log that shows the sex, race and ethnicity of every motorist stopped.

"Some people just feel really sad that it has come to this, but something has to be done to reassure citizens that we are just doing our jobs," said Orlando police Lt. Cheryl DeGroff-Berry, whose "Bias-Free Policing" policy took effect Jan. 1.

St. Petersburg does not face any punishment for not meeting the Jan. 1 deadline. Other departments, though, are ahead of them. Tampa's took effect last July; Clearwater put one in place in October; and Miami-Dade followed in December.

Darryl Rouson, president of the St. Petersburg NAACP, said he understands the delay because the city has had turnover in administrations.

"If within the next couple to three months nothing is done, I would begin getting more concerned and would probably feel that delay is suggestive of denial," Rouson said.

Grady Irvin, a St. Petersburg attorney, is one of two residents who has complained about racial profiling since St. Petersburg began tracking complaints in mid 2001.

Irvin, 39, thinks police departments should collect data on race, and he is bothered by St. Petersburg's delay in adopting a profiling policy.

"Was this more of an attempt for them to protect their existing position, which is we don't profile, and we don't need a policy?" Irvin asked.

Harmon said in the early stages of the policy, administrators considered whether it was necessary, because the department has a rule banning discrimination.

"My point is we've always tried to guard against any type of biased-based profiling," Harmon said. "We don't condone it here. Never have. Never will."

But Irvin said a St. Petersburg officer pulled him over last May because he is black. Irvin got a ticket for not signaling before turning. Irvin said the first question posed by the officer was about who owned the champagne-colored 2001 Infiniti i30.

Police studied Irvin's complaint and ruled it unfounded. The officer issued 10 citations to motorists in the area, and all drivers were white except Irvin. Irvin was acquitted of the traffic offense.

"I believe that police officers are trained to go with their gut instincts in certain situations, and sometimes those can be based upon race," Irvin said.

For generations, officers have used profiling as a crime-fighting tool. They stop and question people who fit physical descriptions.

Racial profiling was thrust into the national spotlight in 1998 after a shooting on the New Jersey Turnpike. During a traffic stop, two state troopers shot at four unarmed men -- three black and one Hispanic. The troopers wounded three of the men and later confessed to racial profiling.

Departments have reacted by gathering race and ethnicity data on traffic stops. That way, officials can see whether officers stop a disproportionate number of people in a minority group. The problem has been interpreting numbers.

What if officers patrol predominantly Hispanic neighborhoods?

"What do you compare it to?" asked Lorie Fridell, researcher for the Police Executive Research Forum. "If I find in my city 35 percent of my stops are of Hispanics, the benchmark question is, 'Compared to what?"'

The forum, a Washington, D.C., think-tank that surveyed departments and wrote a report on racially biased policing, recommends that if departments choose to collect information on people, they should include all traffic stops.

That means if you are pulled over, an officer would note your race, sex and ethnicity even if you don't get a ticket.

St. Petersburg's proposal calls for gathering such data on a "field interview report" in consent searches. In a consent search, officers ask motorists they stop to agree to have their car searched. If nothing illegal turns up or no arrest results, officers will hand in the form.

David Harris, a professor of law at the University of Toledo and author of Profiles in Injustice: Why Racial Profiling Cannot Work, likes that approach.

"That's good, but it isn't enough," Harris said.

St. Petersburg should use field interview report forms after all vehicle searches, regardless of outcome, Harris said. Search rates are the best indicators of racial profiling because officers have wide discretion in deciding which motorists to search, he said.

"It's a very good indication of who they think is suspicious when they have no other evidence," Harris said.

St. Petersburg officials said if they need race data in other situations, they can look at police reports. But those only include a field for race, not ethnicity, and the city would have two separate databases.

"The idea is if you're going to compare things, you want them to be in the same drawer," Harris said. "If you put them in different drawers, it's going to be very hard to compare."

-- Times researcher Kitty Bennett contributed to this report.

Anti-profiling policies

The following is a summary of police department bias-based profiling policies and their effective dates.

St. Petersburg: Bans detention or disparate treatment based solely on the basis of race, ethnic background, gender, sexual orientation, religion, economic status, age or cultural group. Requires officers to gather race and ethnicity data on a "field interview report" after a specific search. Officers who stop and get motorists to agree to have their car searched will fill out an FIR form only if nothing illegal turns up or no arrest results. Pending.

Pinellas County Sheriff's Office: Bans detention or disparate treatment based solely on a common trait of a group. Deputies include race and ethnicity on warnings, citations and arrest reports. Effective April 2002.

Tampa: Race, ethnic origin, gender, age, economic status or sexual orientation of an individual are not to be independent factors or reasons for any action by any member of this department. Does not call for data collection. Effective July 2001.

Clearwater: Bans detention or disparate treatment on the basis of racial or ethnic status or characteristics. Does not call for data collection other than what already is required in regular reports. Effective October 2001.

Fort Lauderdale: Race, color, ethnicity, age, sex, sexual orientation, physical handicap, religion or other belief system or unique characteristics can never be used as the sole basis for probable cause or reasonable suspicion. Each time a motorist is stopped, the officer radios to dispatcher the location, description of person or vehicle and reason for stop. Dispatcher types information into computer. Effective Jan. 1.

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