The Race Gap in America's Police Departments & RACIAL PROFILING
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The Race Gap in America’s Police Departments & RACIAL PROFILING By JEREMY ASHKENAS and HAEYOUN PARK SEPT. 4, 2014 In hundreds of police departments across the country, the percentage of whites on the force is more than 30 percentage points higher than in the communities they serve, according to an analysis of a government survey of police departments. Minorities make up a quarter of police forces, according to the 2007 survey, the most recent comprehensive data available. Experts say that diversity in the police force increases a department’s credibility with its community. “Even if police officers of whatever race enforce the law in relatively the same way, there is a huge image problem with a department that is so out of sync with the racial composition of the local population,” said Ronald Weitzer, a sociologist at George Washington University. Listed below are local police departments from 16 metropolitan areas, sorted so that departments with the largest percentage-point differences of white officers to white residents are at the top. Houston South Houston, about 12 miles southeast of Houston, is nearly 90 percent Hispanic, but its police force is nearly three-quarters white. Houston’s police department, with a 26point difference, is closer to matching the demographics of its population. Houston Circles are scaled according to the size of the police department. WHITE BLACK Department HISP. ASIAN OTHER Police Dept. South Houston, Tex. +62 pct. Residents Pop. 16,983 pts. Police 32 police officers more white than residents Pasadena, Tex. +52 pct. Residents Pop. 149,043 pts. Police 252 police officers more white Humble, Tex. +50 pct. Residents Pop. 15,133 pts. Police 59 police officers more white Baytown, Tex. Residents +43 pct. Pop. 71,802 Police pts. 129 police officers La Porte, Tex. Pop. 33,800 74 police officers Houston, Tex. Pop. 2,099,451 4,892 police officers Deer Park, Tex. Pop. 32,010 55 police officers Nassau Bay, Tex. Pop. 4,002 14 police officers Bellaire, Tex. Pop. 16,855 42 police officers more white +29 pct. Residents pts. Police more white +27 pct. Residents pts. Police more white +20 pct. Residents pts. Police more white +10 pct. Residents pts. Police more white -1 pct. pts. Residents less white Police St. Louis Disparities in the racial makeup of police departments and their communities are most pronounced in smaller Midwestern cities, like Ferguson, where minorities make up at least two-thirds of the population. Ferguson went from majority white to majority black in the last two decades, but the police department is still predominantly white. The imbalance is less pronounced in other parts of St. Louis County, where the population is mostly white. ST. LOUIS DEPARTMENT Dellwood, Mo. Pop. 5,025 18 police officers WHITE BLACK HISP. ASIAN OTHER Police Dept. RESIDENTS POLICE +77 pct. pts. more white than residents Riverview, Mo. Pop. 2,856 11 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE Ferguson, Mo. Pop. 21,203 54 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE Hazelwood, Mo. Pop. 25,703 67 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +64 pct. pts. more white +55 pct. pts. more white +36 pct. pts. more white Moline Acres, Mo. RESIDENTS Pop. 2,442 POLICE 12 police officers +35 Belleville, Ill. Pop. 44,478 83 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +26 Pagedale, Mo. Pop. 3,304 16 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE St. Louis, Mo. Pop. 319,294 1,348 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE Florissant, Mo. Pop. 52,158 85 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE pct. pts. more white pct. pts. more white +22 pct. pts. more white +21 pct. pts. more white +20 pct. pts. more white St. Charles, Mo. Pop. 65,794 110 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE Shrewsbury, Mo. Pop. 6,254 18 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE Frontenac, Mo. Pop. 3,482 21 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE Ballwin, Mo. Pop. 30,404 52 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE Chesterfield, Mo. Pop. 47,484 85 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE O'Fallon, Mo. Pop. 79,329 102 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE Troy, Ill. Pop. 9,888 18 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE East St. Louis, Ill. Pop. 27,006 61 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE Ellisville, Mo. Pop. 9,133 21 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +12 pct. pts. more white +11 pct. pts. more white +11 pct. pts. more white +10 pct. pts. more white +10 pct. pts. more white +9 pct. pts. more white +8 pct. pts. more white +7 pct. pts. more white +5 pct. pts. more white Arnold, Mo. Pop. 20,808 50 police officers Glendale, Mo. Pop. 5,925 12 police officers Richmond Heights, Mo. RESIDENTS POLICE +5 pct. pts. more white +4 RESIDENTS POLICE pct. pts. more white +2 RESIDENTS POLICE Pop. 8,603 40 police officers pct. pts. more white Cleveland Like Ferguson, Mo., Maple Heights went from being mostly white to nearly two-thirds black in the last few decades. But its police force remains unchanged, despite a 1977 affirmative action deal in which the city agreed to hire more minorities. Most of the other police departments in the Cleveland metro area are more closely matched to the populations they serve. CLEVELAND Circles are scaled according to the size of the police department. DEPARTMENT Maple Heights, Ohio Pop. 23,138 39 police officers WHITE BLACK HISP. ASIAN OTHER Police Dept. RESIDENTS POLICE +70 pct. pts. more white than residents Garfield Heights, Ohio Pop. 28,849 62 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +39 pct. pts. more white University Heights, Ohio Pop. 13,539 30 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +27 pct. pts. more white Berea, Ohio Pop. 19,093 31 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE Parma, Ohio Pop. 81,601 88 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +8 pct. pts. more white Lyndhurst, Ohio Pop. 14,001 31 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +7 pct. pts. more white Strongsville, Ohio Pop. 44,750 77 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +7 pct. pts. more white Mayfield Village, Ohio Pop. 3,460 16 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +5 pct. pts. more white Madison, Ohio Pop. 18,889 15 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +4 pct. pts. more white Richfield, Ohio Pop. 3,648 17 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +4 pct. pts. more white +13 pct. pts. more white Chagrin Falls, Ohio Pop. 4,113 11 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +3 pct. pts. more white Mentor, Ohio Pop. 47,159 82 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +2 pct. pts. more white Westlake, Ohio Pop. 32,729 52 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE -1 pct. pts. less white New York New York City's police department is among a number of large departments where court-ordered mandates have led to more racial diversity. A federal judge ruled in 1978 that the city could not use its Civil Service exam to select new police recruits, leading to measures that increased the hiring of black and Hispanic officers. In some New Jersey towns, like Plainsboro, Dover and Edison, Hispanics and Asians are significantly underrepresented. NEW YORK Circles are scaled according to the size of the police department. DEPARTMENT WHITE BLACK HISP. ASIAN OTHER Police Dept. Plainsboro, N.J. Pop. 22,999 33 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE Edison, N.J. Pop. 99,967 204 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +56 pct. pts. more white than residents +56 pct. pts. more white North Bergen, N.J. Pop. 60,773 120 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +56 pct. pts. more white Dover, N.J. Pop. 18,157 36 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +55 pct. pts. more white Guttenberg, N.J. Pop. 11,176 23 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE Belleville, N.J. Pop. 35,926 104 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +55 pct. pts. more white Harrison, N.J. Pop. 13,620 51 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +51 pct. pts. more white Ridgefield Park, N.J. Pop. 12,729 30 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +50 pct. pts. more white North Brunswick, N.J. Pop. 40,742 85 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +50 pct. pts. more white Elizabeth, N.J. Pop. 124,969 362 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +50 pct. pts. more white Kearny, N.J. Pop. 40,684 113 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +50 pct. pts. more white +55 pct. pts. more white South Bound Brook, N.J. Pop. 4,563 13 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +46 pct. pts. more white South Brunswick, N.J. Pop. 43,417 82 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +46 pct. pts. more white Mount Vernon, N.Y. Pop. 67,292 207 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE Union, N.J. Pop. 56,642 139 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +45 pct. pts. more white Yonkers, N.Y. Pop. 195,976 647 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +45 pct. pts. more white Linden, N.J. Pop. 40,499 130 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +45 pct. pts. more white Perth Amboy, N.J. RESIDENTS Pop. 50,814 POLICE 123 police officers +44 pct. pts. more white New Brunswick, N.J. Pop. 55,181 142 police officers +43 pct. pts. more white RESIDENTS POLICE +45 pct. pts. more white Hempstead Village, N.Y. Pop. 53,891 106 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +41 pct. pts. more white Fort Lee, N.J. Pop. 35,345 109 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +40 pct. pts. more white Roselle Park, N.J. Pop. 13,297 34 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE Bloomfield, N.J. Pop. 47,315 135 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +38 pct. pts. more white Flemington, N.J. Pop. 4,581 14 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +38 pct. pts. more white East Rutherford, N.J. Pop. 8,913 32 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +37 pct. pts. more white Paterson, N.J. Pop. 146,199 483 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +37 pct. pts. more white Parsippany-Troy Hills, N.J. Pop. 53,238 103 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +36 pct. pts. more white Bayonne, N.J. Pop. 63,024 224 police RESIDENTS POLICE +36 pct. pts. more white +40 pct. pts. more white officers West Orange, N.J. Pop. 46,207 118 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE Dunellen, N.J. Pop. 7,227 18 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE Plainfield, N.J. Pop. 49,808 151 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +33 pct. pts. more white Old Bridge, N.J. Pop. 65,375 105 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +32 pct. pts. more white Clifton, N.J. Pop. 84,136 155 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +32 pct. pts. more white West New York, N.J. Pop. 49,708 127 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +32 pct. pts. more white Union City, N.J. Pop. 66,455 170 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +29 pct. pts. more white New Rochelle, N.Y. Pop. 77,062 RESIDENTS POLICE +29 pct. pts. more white +36 pct. pts. more white +35 pct. pts. more white 183 police officers East Brunswick, N.J. Pop. 47,512 93 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +29 pct. pts. more white Long Branch, N.J. RESIDENTS Pop. 30,719 POLICE 100 police officers +28 pct. pts. more white Teaneck, N.J. Pop. 39,776 101 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +27 pct. pts. more white Clarkstown Town, N.Y. RESIDENTS Pop. 84,187 POLICE 172 police officers +27 pct. pts. more white Amityville Village, N.Y. Pop. 9,523 26 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +25 pct. pts. more white Kenilworth, N.J. Pop. 7,914 30 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +24 pct. pts. more white Harrington Park, N.J. Pop. 4,664 12 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +23 pct. pts. more white White Plains, N.Y. RESIDENTS Pop. 56,853 POLICE 215 police officers +23 pct. pts. more white Orange, N.J. Pop. 30,134 107 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +23 pct. pts. more white Nutley, N.J. Pop. 28,370 65 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +22 pct. pts. more white Belmar, N.J. Pop. 5,794 21 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +22 pct. pts. more white Bradley Beach, N.J. Pop. 4,298 17 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +22 pct. pts. more white New York, N.Y. Pop. 8,175,133 35,216 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +21 pct. pts. more white Lynbrook Village, N.Y. Pop. 19,427 49 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +20 pct. pts. more white Lincoln Park, N.J. Pop. 10,521 26 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +20 pct. pts. more white Harrison Town, N.Y. Pop. 27,472 76 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE Wanaque, N.J. Pop. 11,116 23 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +19 pct. pts. more white +19 pct. pts. more white Old Brookville Village, N.Y. Pop. 2,134 40 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +18 pct. pts. more white Florham Park, N.J. Pop. 11,696 32 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +17 pct. pts. more white Malverne Village, N.Y. Pop. 8,514 24 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE Stony Point Town, N.Y. Pop. 15,059 30 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +17 pct. pts. more white Montclair, N.J. Pop. 37,669 111 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +16 pct. pts. more white Newark, N.J. Pop. 277,140 1,229 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +16 pct. pts. more white Freehold, N.J. Pop. 36,184 68 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +16 pct. pts. more white New Providence, N.J. Pop. 12,171 26 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +15 pct. pts. more white Englewood, N.J. Pop. 27,147 83 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +15 pct. pts. more white +17 pct. pts. more white Tinton Falls, N.J. Pop. 17,892 40 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +14 pct. pts. more white Mountainside, N.J. Pop. 6,685 22 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +14 pct. pts. more white North Haledon, N.J. Pop. 8,417 18 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +14 pct. pts. more white Wayne, N.J. Pop. 54,717 117 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +14 pct. pts. more white Jackson, N.J. Pop. 54,856 86 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +12 pct. pts. more white Bedford Town, N.Y. Pop. 17,335 43 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +12 pct. pts. more white Ringwood, N.J. Pop. 12,228 23 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +12 pct. pts. more white Barnegat, N.J. Pop. 20,936 46 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE Morris, N.J. Pop. 22,306 44 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +11 pct. pts. more white +11 pct. pts. more white North Castle Town, N.Y. Pop. 11,841 39 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +10 pct. pts. more white Sparta, N.J. Pop. 19,722 40 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +10 pct. pts. more white East Orange, N.J. Pop. 64,270 276 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +10 pct. pts. more white Brick, N.J. Pop. 75,072 132 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +10 pct. pts. more white Long Beach, N.Y. Pop. 33,275 76 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +10 pct. pts. more white Verona, N.J. Pop. 13,332 31 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +10 pct. pts. more white Manalapan, N.J. Pop. 38,872 66 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +10 pct. pts. more white Glen Ridge, N.J. Pop. 7,527 27 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +10 pct. pts. more white West Long Branch, N.J. Pop. 8,097 21 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +9 pct. pts. more white Berkeley, N.J. Pop. 41,255 72 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +9 pct. pts. more white Rockaway, N.J. Pop. 24,156 58 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +8 pct. pts. more white Princeton, N.J. Pop. 16,265 31 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +6 pct. pts. more white Stafford, N.J. Pop. 26,535 59 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +5 pct. pts. more white Highlands, N.J. Pop. 5,005 14 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +4 pct. pts. more white Byram, N.J. Pop. 8,350 15 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE Quogue Village, N.Y. Pop. 967 13 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE -4 pct. pts. less white Essex Fells, N.J. Pop. 2,113 13 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE -9 pct. pts. less white +3 pct. pts. more white Los Angeles Cities in Los Angeles County with large Hispanic populations, like West Covina and Pomona, have mostly white police departments. In parts of Orange County, like Buena Park, Tustin and Garden Grove, growing Asian and Hispanic communities are also policed by mostly white departments. LOS ANGELES Circles are scaled according to the size of the police department. DEPARTMENT WHITE BLACK HISP. ASIAN OTHER Police Dept. +69 pct. pts. more white than residents Montclair, Calif. Pop. 36,664 60 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE West Covina, Calif. Pop. 106,098 127 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +54 pct. pts. more white Pomona, Calif. Pop. 149,058 192 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +54 pct. pts. more white Ontario, Calif. Pop. 163,924 226 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +51 pct. pts. more white El Monte, Calif. Pop. 113,475 152 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +50 pct. pts. more white Buena Park, Calif. RESIDENTS Pop. 80,530 POLICE 90 police officers +50 pct. pts. more white Tustin, Calif. Pop. 75,540 95 police officers +49 pct. pts. more white RESIDENTS POLICE Garden Grove, Calif. Pop. 170,883 159 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +47 pct. pts. more white Westminster, Calif. Pop. 89,701 98 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +46 pct. pts. more white Gardena, Calif. Pop. 58,829 91 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE Chino, Calif. Pop. 77,983 87 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +45 pct. pts. more white Signal Hill, Calif. Pop. 11,016 35 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +44 pct. pts. more white Covina, Calif. Pop. 47,796 57 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +44 pct. pts. more white Downey, Calif. Pop. 111,772 106 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +44 pct. pts. more white Huntington Park, Calif. Pop. 58,114 71 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE Anaheim, Calif. Pop. 336,265 390 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +46 pct. pts. more white +42 pct. pts. more white +42 pct. pts. more white Azusa, Calif. Pop. 46,361 62 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +37 pct. pts. more white Santa Ana, Calif. Pop. 324,528 365 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +37 pct. pts. more white Maywood, Calif. Pop. 27,395 37 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +36 pct. pts. more white Fullerton, Calif. Pop. 135,161 160 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +35 pct. pts. more white Cypress, Calif. Pop. 47,802 56 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +33 pct. pts. more white Torrance, Calif. Pop. 145,438 231 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +31 pct. pts. more white Inglewood, Calif. Pop. 109,673 187 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +31 pct. pts. more white Whittier, Calif. Pop. 85,331 131 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE Alhambra, Calif. Pop. 83,089 85 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +29 pct. pts. more white +29 pct. pts. more white Costa Mesa, Calif. RESIDENTS Pop. 109,960 POLICE 162 police officers +28 pct. pts. more white Long Beach, Calif. RESIDENTS Pop. 462,257 POLICE 972 police officers +28 pct. pts. more white Orange, Calif. Pop. 136,416 163 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE Claremont, Calif. Pop. 34,926 42 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +22 pct. pts. more white Huntington Beach, Calif. Pop. 189,992 218 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +18 pct. pts. more white Burbank, Calif. Pop. 103,340 159 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +17 pct. pts. more white Glendora, Calif. Pop. 50,073 53 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +13 pct. pts. more white Los Angeles, Calif. Pop. 3,792,621 9,504 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +11 pct. pts. more white Seal Beach, Calif. Pop. 24,168 30 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +10 pct. pts. more white +27 pct. pts. more white Glendale, Calif. Pop. 191,719 254 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +4 pct. pts. more white Pasadena, Calif. Pop. 137,122 248 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +2 pct. pts. more white Beverly Hills, Calif. Pop. 34,109 134 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE Santa Monica, Calif. Pop. 89,736 214 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +1 pct. pts. more white -15 pct. pts. less white Chicago The Chicago Police Department faced several lawsuits from 1970 to 2000 that forced it to hire more minorities. But it is still more than half white, despite the city's relatively equal numbers of whites, Hispanics and blacks. Towns that had a huge influx of Hispanics in recent decades, like Cicero, have some of the largest racial disparities. CHICAGO Circles are scaled according to the size of the police department. DEPARTMENT Stone Park, Ill. Pop. 4,946 18 police officers WHITE BLACK HISP. ASIAN OTHER Police Dept. RESIDENTS POLICE +76 pct. pts. more white than residents Blue Island, Ill. Pop. 23,706 40 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +56 pct. pts. more white Berkeley, Ill. Pop. 5,209 16 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +55 pct. pts. more white Cicero, Ill. Pop. 83,891 141 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +55 pct. pts. more white Waukegan, Ill. Pop. 89,078 164 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +53 pct. pts. more white Carpentersville, Ill. Pop. 37,691 67 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +53 pct. pts. more white Merrillville, Ind. Pop. 35,246 51 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +52 pct. pts. more white Glenwood, Ill. Pop. 8,969 23 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +50 pct. pts. more white Bolingbrook, Ill. Pop. 73,366 122 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +45 pct. pts. more white Addison, Ill. Pop. 36,942 79 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +42 pct. pts. more white Wheeling, Ill. Pop. 37,648 64 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +40 pct. pts. more white Hammond, Ind. Pop. 80,830 211 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +35 pct. pts. more white Westchester, Ill. Pop. 16,718 35 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +34 pct. pts. more white Elgin, Ill. Pop. 108,188 189 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +33 pct. pts. more white Rosemont, Ill. Pop. 4,202 75 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +33 pct. pts. more white Joliet, Ill. Pop. 147,433 302 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +31 pct. pts. more white Schaumburg, Ill. Pop. 74,227 131 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +29 pct. pts. more white Hazel Crest, Ill. Pop. 14,100 29 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +29 pct. pts. more white Carol Stream, Ill. Pop. 39,711 62 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +29 pct. pts. more white Elmwood Park, Ill. Pop. 24,883 36 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +28 pct. pts. more white Woodridge, Ill. Pop. 32,971 56 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +28 pct. pts. more white Alsip, Ill. Pop. 19,277 42 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +27 pct. pts. more white Mount Prospect, Ill. Pop. 54,167 94 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +26 pct. pts. more white Skokie, Ill. Pop. 64,784 110 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +25 pct. pts. more white Vernon Hills, Ill. Pop. 25,113 48 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +24 pct. pts. more white Chicago, Ill. Pop. 2,695,598 13,336 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +23 pct. pts. more white Niles, Ill. Pop. 29,803 60 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +22 pct. pts. more white Willowbrook, Ill. Pop. 8,540 26 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +21 pct. pts. more white Naperville, Ill. Pop. 141,853 189 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +21 pct. pts. more white Evergreen Park, Ill. Pop. 19,852 56 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +21 pct. pts. more white Palatine, Ill. Pop. 68,557 110 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +20 pct. pts. more white Burr Ridge, Ill. Pop. 10,559 26 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +19 pct. pts. more white Oak Lawn, Ill. Pop. 56,690 104 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +18 pct. pts. more white Crystal Lake, Ill. Pop. 40,743 59 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +13 pct. pts. more white East Chicago, Ind. Pop. 29,698 113 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE North Chicago, Ill. RESIDENTS Pop. 32,574 POLICE 53 police officers +13 pct. pts. more white +13 pct. pts. more white Winfield, Ill. Pop. 9,080 20 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +12 pct. pts. more white Elmhurst, Ill. Pop. 44,121 67 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +10 pct. pts. more white Lake Bluff, Ill. Pop. 5,722 18 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +9 pct. pts. more white Tinley Park, Ill. Pop. 56,703 81 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +9 pct. pts. more white Wheaton, Ill. Pop. 52,894 72 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +8 pct. pts. more white Northbrook, Ill. Pop. 33,170 61 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +8 pct. pts. more white Harwood Heights, Ill. RESIDENTS POLICE Pop. 8,612 27 police officers +7 pct. pts. more white Arlington Heights, Ill. RESIDENTS Pop. 75,101 POLICE 110 police officers +6 pct. pts. more white Oak Park, Ill. Pop. 51,878 121 police officers +6 pct. pts. more white RESIDENTS POLICE Lake Forest, Ill. Pop. 19,375 41 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +2 pct. pts. more white Evanston, Ill. Pop. 74,486 157 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +1 pct. pts. more white Kenilworth, Ill. Pop. 2,513 11 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE -5 pct. pts. less white East Dundee, Ill. Pop. 2,860 14 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE -8 pct. pts. less white Palos Park, Ill. Pop. 4,847 12 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE -9 pct. pts. less white Miami The racial makeup of police departments in a number of towns, like Coral Gables and Boca Raton, are similar to their communities. But Pembroke Pines, which is about 40 percent Hispanic, is policed by a mostly white department, and Lauderhill, which is three-quarters black, has a department that is more than half white. MIAMI Circles are scaled according to the size of the police department. DEPARTMENT WHITE BLACK HISP. ASIAN OTHER Miramar, Fla. Pop. 122,041 191 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE Police Dept. +47 pct. pts. more white than residents Pembroke Pines, Fla. Pop. 154,750 243 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE Lauderhill, Fla. Pop. 66,887 115 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE Miami Springs, Fla. Pop. 13,809 41 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +42 pct. pts. more white Sunrise, Fla. Pop. 84,439 173 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +38 pct. pts. more white Margate, Fla. Pop. 53,284 115 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +37 pct. pts. more white Coral Springs, Fla. Pop. 121,096 200 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +36 pct. pts. more white Plantation, Fla. Pop. 84,955 180 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +33 pct. pts. more white +44 pct. pts. more white +43 pct. pts. more white West Palm Beach, Fla. RESIDENTS Pop. 99,919 POLICE 310 police officers +33 pct. pts. more white Coconut Creek, Fla. Pop. 52,909 85 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +29 pct. pts. more white North Miami, Fla. Pop. 58,786 126 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +28 pct. pts. more white Boynton Beach, Fla. Pop. 68,217 164 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +24 pct. pts. more white Davie, Fla. Pop. 91,992 172 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE North Miami Beach, Fla. Pop. 41,523 110 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Pop. 165,521 453 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE Hollywood, Fla. Pop. 140,768 319 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +24 pct. pts. more white +23 pct. pts. more white +23 pct. pts. more white +21 pct. pts. more white Delray Beach, Fla. RESIDENTS Pop. 60,522 POLICE 152 police officers +16 pct. pts. more white Riviera Beach, Fla. Pop. 32,488 113 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +14 pct. pts. more white Gulf Stream, Fla. Pop. 786 10 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE Jupiter, Fla. Pop. 55,156 107 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +3 pct. pts. more white Miami, Fla. Pop. 399,457 1,054 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +2 pct. pts. more white Coral Gables, Fla. Pop. 46,780 186 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +1 pct. pts. more white Boca Raton, Fla. Pop. 84,392 188 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +0 pct. pts. more white Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. Pop. 48,452 112 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE -1 pct. pts. less white +6 pct. pts. more white Miami Beach, Fla. RESIDENTS Pop. 87,779 POLICE 385 police officers -4 pct. pts. less white South Miami, Fla. Pop. 11,657 49 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE -7 pct. pts. less white Surfside, Fla. Pop. 5,744 30 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE -10 pct. pts. less white Boston Chelsea’s police department remains mostly white, even though more than half its population is Hispanic. Progress has been made, though, according to Chief Brian Kyes, who said that minorities now made up 30 percent of the force. Chief Kyes said the department was continuing to reach out to more Hispanics. BOSTON Circles are scaled according to the size of the police department. DEPARTMENT WHITE BLACK HISP. ASIAN OTHER Police Dept. Chelsea, Mass. Pop. 35,177 83 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE Lawrence, Mass. Pop. 76,377 149 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +53 pct. pts. more white than residents +52 pct. pts. more white Lynn, Mass. Pop. 90,329 182 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +40 pct. pts. more white Brockton, Mass. Pop. 93,810 190 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +39 pct. pts. more white Malden, Mass. Pop. 59,450 103 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE Quincy, Mass. Pop. 92,271 203 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +32 pct. pts. more white Lowell, Mass. Pop. 106,519 233 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +30 pct. pts. more white Framingham, Mass. Pop. 68,318 120 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +26 pct. pts. more white Waltham, Mass. Pop. 60,632 150 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +24 pct. pts. more white Lexington, Mass. Pop. 31,394 46 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +20 pct. pts. more white Burlington, Mass. Pop. 24,498 62 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +19 pct. pts. more white +37 pct. pts. more white Boston, Mass. Pop. 617,594 2,169 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +18 pct. pts. more white Newton, Mass. Pop. 85,146 139 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +16 pct. pts. more white Brookline, Mass. Pop. 58,732 125 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE Taunton, Mass. Pop. 55,874 115 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +15 pct. pts. more white Somerville, Mass. Pop. 75,754 116 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +15 pct. pts. more white Belmont, Mass. Pop. 24,729 47 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +14 pct. pts. more white Chelmsford, Mass. Pop. 33,802 53 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +13 pct. pts. more white Norwood, Mass. Pop. 28,602 59 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE Cambridge, Mass. RESIDENTS Pop. 105,162 POLICE 268 police officers +15 pct. pts. more white +12 pct. pts. more white +11 pct. pts. more white Watertown, Mass. RESIDENTS Pop. 31,915 POLICE 66 police officers +11 pct. pts. more white Natick, Mass. Pop. 33,006 52 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +11 pct. pts. more white Melrose, Mass. Pop. 26,983 42 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +10 pct. pts. more white Peabody, Mass. Pop. 51,251 93 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +9 pct. pts. more white Billerica, Mass. Pop. 40,243 65 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +9 pct. pts. more white Salem, N.H. Pop. 28,776 60 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE Hudson, Mass. Pop. 19,063 31 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +8 pct. pts. more white Wellesley, Mass. Pop. 27,982 37 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +7 pct. pts. more white Walpole, Mass. Pop. 24,070 40 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +7 pct. pts. more white Groton, Mass. Pop. 10,646 17 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +6 pct. pts. more white +8 pct. pts. more white Ipswich, Mass. Pop. 13,175 24 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +5 pct. pts. more white Abington, Mass. Pop. 15,985 28 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +5 pct. pts. more white Boxford, Mass. Pop. 7,965 13 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +5 pct. pts. more white Seabrook, N.H. Pop. 8,693 25 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +5 pct. pts. more white Needham, Mass. Pop. 28,886 45 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +4 pct. pts. more white Hanson, Mass. Pop. 10,209 21 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE Raynham, Mass. Pop. 13,383 26 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +4 pct. pts. more white Rockland, Mass. Pop. 17,489 32 police officers RESIDENTS POLICE +0 pct. pts. more white +4 pct. pts. more white Racial Profiling The consideration of race, ethnicity, or national origin by an officer of the law in deciding when and how to intervene in an enforcement capacity. Police officers often profile certain types of individuals who are more likely to perpetrate crimes. Many of these suspects are profiled because of activities observed by police officers. For example, if someone who is obviously poor is frequently seen in a more affluent neighborhood, such a person may be profiled as someone with possible criminal intent. Similarly, if an individual living in an obviously poor neighborhood has in his or her possession several expensive items, that person may be profiled as someone involved in crime, such as drugs or theft. Although this type of profiling is not always considered fair, law enforcement officers consider it necessary to identify possible criminal activity before it occurs and causes injury to others. One of the most heated issues in law enforcement is the profiling of individuals based solely upon the race, ethnicity, or national origin of the individual. Statistics show that African Americans are several times more likely to be arrested and incarcerated than white Americans. As of 2000, fewer African American men were in college than were in prison. Moreover, black children were nine times as likely as white children to have at least one parent in prison. The most common form of racial profiling occurs when police stop, question, and search African American, Hispanic American, or members of other racial minorities disproportionately based solely on the individuals' race or ethnicity. In 1996, the television network ABC aired a report entitled "Driving While Black," in which it paid three younger black men to drive around the city of New Brunswick, New Jersey, in a Mercedes-Benz. Three officers in the city pulled over the car for a minor traffic infraction and then proceeded to search the car and the young men. The show demonstrated with little doubt that the only reason the three men were pulled over was their race. Nevertheless, the officers brought a Defamation suit against ABC, claiming that ABC had defamed their character and had violated New Jersey's anti-wiretapping law. In 2000, a New Jersey Superior Court judge dismissed the lawsuit. SHOULD POLICE PRACTICE RACIAL PROFILING? The 1998 shooting death of three young minority men by state troopers during a traffic stop on the New Jersey Turnpike helped spark a national debate on the issue of socalled "racial profiling" by law enforcement officials. Critics of profiling charge that the practice is inherently racist, because law enforcement officials tend to stop and search African Americans and other minorities more often than whites. Critics also charge that aggressive stop-and-search tactics erode public confidence in law enforcement and violate the Civil Rights of all citizens. In 1999, they led the charge for federal legislation to determine the extent to which racial profiling is practiced. Defenders of profiling concede that some law enforcement officials may stop and search blacks and other minorities at a disproportionately high rate. However, they ascribe this to overzealous police work and believe it can be addressed through training. Furthermore, they credit profiling, in part, with a significant decrease in America's crime rate and oppose efforts to collect data on stop-and-search tactics. Critics of profiling acknowledge that law enforcement officials have broad discretion when it comes to stopping and searching citizens. On the highway, evidence of a traffic infraction alone is justification for stopping a motorist. Off the highway, a police officer must have a "reasonable suspicion" that a person is armed and presents a danger, and must be able to articulate why he or she felt that way. This "reasonable suspicion" standard evolved from a landmark 1968 Supreme Court decision, TERRY V. OHIO, 392, U.S. 1, 88 S. Ct. 1868, 20 L. Ed. 2d 889 (1968), and it is significantly lower than the "probable cause" standard that police must meet to make an arrest or to obtain a Search Warrant. Just how much lower has been the subject of much debate and considerable litigation. The courts have consistently held that simply being of a certain race or fitting a certain type or loitering in a high-crime area does not constitute sufficient grounds for frisking. Making a furtive gesture or having a bulge in your pocket, on the other hand, does. The extent to which racial stereotyping is used in identifying "suspicious" individuals is a key point of contention in the debate over profiling. Critics of profiling point to statistics that indicate that African American and other minority drivers are stopped and searched at a disproportionately high rate in comparison with white motorists. In Maryland, for example, a study revealed that 70 percent of those stopped and searched on a stretch of I–95 were African American—despite the fact that they represented only 17 percent of drivers on the road. A demographic expert who examined the data described the odds of this disparity's occurring by chance as "less than one in one quintillion." A similar study conducted in New Jersey in 1994–95 showed that on the southern section of the New Jersey Turnpike cars with black occupants represented only 15 percent of those violating the speed limit, yet they accounted for 46 percent of the drivers pulled over. Profiling's detractors renounce efforts to defend profiling on the grounds that tendency toward criminality, not race or ethnicity, is being profiled as reflecting a pattern of stereotyping by police. When police look for minorities, these critics say, it is minorities they will arrest. While acknowledging the role of aggressive policing in the recent drop in crime, they decry the deleterious effect of profiling on public confidence in law enforcement, particularly in minority communities. How many innocent citizens have to be inconvenienced, these critics ask, in order to keep the streets free of criminals? The lack of national data on profiling has led critics of the practice to call for national legislation to study the problem. In 1999, both the House and the Senate introduced bills entitled the Traffic Stops Statistics Act of 1999 (H.R. 1443, S. 821, 106th Cong., 1st Sess.), which would have required the attorney general to conduct a study of stops for routine traffic violations by law enforcement officers. However, the bills died after committee deliberations. Defenders of profiling are quick to deny or deemphasize its racial component. They condemn profiling solely on the basis of race, but defend profiling by looking for signs that a person might be a lawbreaker as good police work. If blacks are being stopped and searched at a disproportionately high rate as compared to whites, they charge, it is because they commit a disproportionately high number of crimes. Defenders of profiling point to statistics that show, for example, that while blacks comprise only about 13 percent of the population, they make up 35 percent of all drug arrests and 55 percent of all drug convictions. Where there is unreasonable racial stereotyping, these defenders assert, the problem is easily solved by training and discipline. Police Academy graduates in New York City, for example, are drilled insistently on what does and does not constitute reasonable grounds for a frisk. Members of the city's elite Street Crimes Unit receive a copy of the department's training manual, "Street Encounters," which expressly stipulates that if an officer's reason for approaching someone "is a personal prejudice or bias, such as the person's race or hair length, the encounter is unlawful." Furthermore, defenders of profiling argue that it has proven to be an effective tactic in the fight against crime. Profiling, they say, allows law enforcement officials to focus their attention on those thought most likely to commit crimes. If this sometimes results in law-abiding citizens being inconvenienced when police aggressively enforce the laws and investigate crimes, this should not cause those stopped and searched to believe that their rights were violated. As the nation's violent crime rate continues to plummet, profiling advocates ask, is it an acceptable time to change police practices that have contributed to this drop in crime? Law enforcement groups have been almost universal in their opposition to legislation requiring a study of traffic stops, such as the the Traffic Stops Statistics Study Act. They claim that it would be costly and could lead to lawsuits against police. The bill, they say, would place an unfair burden on the police and lengthen traffic stops. In addition, collecting information on personal characteristics would likely be considered highly offensive by many individuals. If an officer is uncertain of someone's ethnic background, for example, the officer would often have to ask for this information and an uncomfortable situation could result. In June 1999, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled in a 5–2 decision that police in Massachusetts cannot order people out of their cars unless they pose a threat, which is a stricter standard than the U.S. Supreme Court handed down in its decision that police may order people out of their cars on routine traffic stops. The majority opinion cited concerns of RACIAL DISCRIMINATION by police in its ruling, taking note of allegations that police stop African Americans disproportionately. The incident in "Driving While Black" demonstrates that racial profiling does occur, but lawmakers and courts have had some difficulty controlling its influence. Under federal Constitutional Law, a police officer who stops a car for a minor traffic violation may search the car and its driver if the driver consents. Such searches sometimes result in arrests if drugs or weapons are discovered, but they have become a controversial lawenforcement technique, even when such searches do not involve incidents of racial profiling. However, the frequency with which racial profiling occurs against minorities has spurred civil liberties and Civil Rights groups to demand stricter limitations on when officers may request a vehicle search. New Jersey has remained in the national spotlight with respect to incidents of racial profiling. Former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman and the state attorney general admitted that New Jersey state police had engaged in racial profiling. Late in 1999, the New Jersey state police entered into a Consent Decree in a federal case by which the police agreed to require reasonable suspicion of a crime before asking for consent searches during traffic stops. In a decision in 2002, the New Jersey Supreme Court made the policy a mandatory requirement under the Constitution of New Jersey for all law enforcement officers in the state. Other states have made similar concessions. In January 2003, the Maryland State Police settled a Class Action lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) regarding the use of racial profiling in that state. The settlement included an agreement by the Maryland police to enact sweeping changes to prevent profiling of racial minorities. The ACLU has targeted other state law enforcement offices as well. The United States has a history of racial profiling, and, in some cases, the incidents were particularly egregious. During World War II, the U.S. government, fearful of potential spies from Japan, sent hundreds of thousands of Japanese Americans to detention camps in southern California. Many of those incarcerated were American citizens. In a decision that has largely been considered one of the most iniquitous in the history of the Supreme Court, Korematsu v. United States, 323 U.S. 214, 65 S. Ct. 193, 89 L. Ed. 2d 194 (1944), the Court found that during times of war, the military should have discretion to make decisions regarding the incarceration of certain groups and that the government's actions in incarcerating Japanese Americans were justified. During the September 11th Attacks,19 Middle Eastern terrorists carried out a terrorist plot that resulted in the destruction of the World Trade Center in New York, severe damage to the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and a major loss of life. After the attacks, the United States announced it would wage a War on Terrorism, which included enhancements in the ability of law enforcement personnel to track, question, and even arrest individuals suspected of terrorist activities. In the first two weeks after the attacks, federal officials arrested or detained more than 500 people. Thousands of resident Aliens were also questioned. The vast majority of those questioned or arrested were Arab Americans or of Middle Eastern nationalities. Some commentators have suggested that the questioning of members of these nationalities and ethnic backgrounds is justified because a disproportionate number of terrorists are Arabic or Middle Eastern. However, civil rights groups have decried the practice of subjecting these individuals to questioning based solely on their race or ethnicity. One of the most significant differences between racial profiling of African and Hispanic Americans and the profiling of potential terrorist threats is the level of support expressed by citizens for such profiling. According to statistics in 1999, 81 percent of respondents in a national poll disapproved of the practice of racial profiling, defined narrowly as the practice of police officers stopping motorists based solely on the race or ethnicity of those motorists. However, after the terrorist attacks, 58 percent of respondents in another poll favored the practice of subjecting Arabs to more intensive scrutiny when they boarded planes. Other questions also have been raised about the profiling of Arabic and Middle Eastern individuals. Even if, in the post–September 11 period, profiling was acceptable to prevent a reoccurrence of terrorist attacks, for how long should this practice be acceptable? Moreover, if this practice is successful in preventing terrorist activities, should it be extended to other "suspect" groups, which may include African or Hispanic Americans? These types of questions have been raised in other contexts. For example, commentators have suggested that the war on Drugs and Narcotics has clear overtones of racism. According to a study in 1986, an African American was six times as likely as a white American to go to jail for a drug related offense. By 1996, an African American was 22 times as likely to be incarcerated for such an offense. Because the war on drugs has been an ongoing battle, several commentators have suggested that profiling in this war has become perpetual. Complaints of racial profiling are not limited to law enforcement personnel. Some department and other retail stores have been accused of denying service or giving inferior service to members of minority groups. Several establishments, including Eddie Bauer, Dillard's Department Stores, and Denny's Restaurants, have been sued in highly publicized cases in which plaintiffs have alleged that the establishments have discriminated on the basis of race. Complaints of discrimination against Arabic and Middle Eastern individuals have also been raised against private companies. In April 2003, the U.S. Transportation Department submitted a complaint that American Airlines had removed from flights at least ten individuals suspected of being Middle Eastern, Southeast Asian, or Muslim. Northampton man has four major drug arrests in Western Pa. since 2009 Keith Eutsey Western Pennsylvania just can't seem to get rid of Keith Eutsey. Since at least 2008, the Northampton County man has helped ferry thousands of bricks of heroin from Newark to dealers in Western Pennsylvania, according to court records. A brick of heroin equals 50 doses of the deadly, highly addictive drug. A 2009 drug and counterfeit money arrest in Nazareth in Northampton County didn't stop Eutsey from getting back on the streets and dealing heroin, records show. A 2010 sweep that included him and the top leaders of the Newark-Monroeville heroin pipeline didn't stop him, according to authorities. And a 2013 arrest while he was out on bail awaiting sentencing on his conviction from the 2010 sweep didn't stop him, court records indicate. But then, he was arrested again in May on charges of participating in a group called “Bricks R Us” that had dealers peddling their wares in broad daylight at strip malls and hotels along Route 22 in Monroeville, He's back in jail. For now. Matthew Reilly, spokesman for U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman in Newark, N.J., in whose jurisdiction Eutsey was arrested, released, rearrested and released again, said he can't comment about the case beyond what's in the public record. But Eutsey's story is symbolic of the difficulty agents have in dismantling — and keeping dismantled — the sophisticated, far-reaching organizations that brazenly courier drugs to Western Pennsylvania, feeding the epidemic of drug-related deaths in the region. When agents arrest some members of a network, a seemingly endless supply of others step in to keep the large, illicit businesses running. Others, like Eutsey, 38, of Nazareth, seem to resume dealing whenever they're set free. “That does not mean that the effort is failing, and it does not mean that we're not doing what we need to be doing,” said U.S. Attorney David Hickton. “It's a tough challenge.” State Attorney General Kathleen Kane said so much heroin moves through Pennsylvania that narcotics agents estimate they intercept only about 40 percent of it. Even so, state troopers seized more than $55 million worth of narcotics in 2013 and $16 million thus far in 2014, Kane said. But the battle doesn't stop there, she said, “this is a war.” The story of one network Eutsey is a frontline soldier in that war, fighting for the other side. He's a key link in a Newark-to-Monroeville pipeline that supplies heroin to local drug rings. The pipeline has apparently kept operating in one form or another since at least 2006 despite dozens of arrests and convictions of key players, records show. Newark is a prime location for drug trafficking because of its port and international airport. One of the pipeline's latest customers was the Bricks R Us operation. More than 200 federal, state and local law enforcement officers swept across four counties on May 29 to arrest 44 people in the organization, including Eutsey, on charges of selling heroin in the Monroeville business district. The Bricks R Us gang was bold, wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the phrase “a hundred bricks at a time” and openly selling heroin in motels and parking lots in Monroeville's commercial district, Hickton said. That boldness was foreshadowed in an earlier customer of the pipeline: a drug ring headed by Anthony Hester Sr. of Plum. Hester was arrested in the same 2010 sweep that picked up Eutsey. He pleaded guilty to drug charges in 2012 but died before he was sentenced. “I don't like doing that car to car, I ain't like that … man,” Hester said in an intercepted phone conversation with the head of the New Jersey end of the pipeline, according to a transcript filed in the case. “I'm beyond it, man, we are all in the parking lot, out in the open, man. My whole thing is we all out in the open.” Monroeville police knew about the evolution in the dealers' habits and, working with state and federal officers, set up a surveillance system. Agents watched drug couriers and local dealers meet to exchange drugs and cash, mostly during daylight hours, in the parking lot of Miracle Mile Shopping Center on Route 22, not far from the turnpike entrance. “We're a transportation hub, which includes the use of hotels and the use of highways,” Monroeville police Chief Doug Cole said. “Location, location, location for businesses is also location, location, location for drug dealers.” DEA agents learned of the pipeline in 2008 when a courier became an informant. He recounted carrying 3,000 bricks of heroin in one trip to Western Pennsylvania and returning to New Jersey with $450,000 stuffed into duffel bags. The sale of heroin was so profitable that the head of the Newark end, James Pender, once considered buying a house in Monroeville to facilitate transactions and thwart police surveillance. Pender is in prison. He was arrested at the same time as Hester and Eutsey. Michael Levine, a retired undercover agent for the Drug Enforcement Agency, said the 2010 sweep was impressive because investigators managed to turn a courier into an informant. “Large highway seizures usually go nowhere because police don't seem to know how to (track it) back to the source,” Levine said. “Ninety-nine percent of these cases die on the highway.” Unlike the others, Eutsey was released on bail after he pleaded guilty in March 2012. He has yet to be sentenced in the 2010 arrest. While out on bail, Eutsey got a job as a janitor and returned to the drug trade, according to court documents. In the May sweep of the Bricks R Us operation, authorities seized about $500,000 in cash, more than 1,000 bricks of heroin and a large number of guns. The turnpike and Route 22 are main routes for drug couriers, according to state and federal narcotics agents. State police seized $1 million worth of heroin last year in a traffic stop along the turnpike in Somerset. State and local narcotics agents have made dozens of arrests along Route 22, a route favored by dealers in four counties, officials said. Westmoreland County Detective Tony Marcocci, who tracks drug traffic on routes 22 and 30, likens the networks to the Pony Express where dealers relay drugs from Allegheny to Westmoreland, then on to Armstrong and Indiana counties. “The main shipments come into the Pittsburgh area and burst out into outlying areas,” he said. And those shipments have grown. “In 2010, if we intercepted a couple of bricks, it was a big deal. Now we're finding upwards of 15 bricks at a time,” Marcocci said. Moving forward Hickton said law enforcement is making progress, but the only way to shut down the heroin trade for good is to eliminate the demand. “We're on track, we're working hard,” Hickton said. Richard Gazarik and Brian Bowling are staff writers for Trib Total Media. Gazarik can be reached at 724-830-6292 or at rgazarik@tribweb.com. Bowling can be reached at 412325-4301 or at bbowling@tribweb.com Most of the racial prejudice Americans harbor today is subtle and manifests itself in stealthier ways than it did in the past. It shows up in how employers view potential hires, how salespeople choose to assist people at high-end stores, or how teachers dole out punishments to misbehaving students. Often subconscious, these race-based evaluations of character or intelligence have wide-ranging effects. Extensive research on the subject shows that everyone carries this subconscious prejudice, known as implicit bias, no matter how well-meaning they might be. In the criminal justice system, this implicit bias may contribute to the many racial disparities in law enforcement. When it comes to police officers, implicit bias is a widespread concern, precisely because of how devastating its effects can be, with trade publications and federal programs taking steps to address it through training and awareness. subconscious bias helps contribute to the many racial disparities in law enforcement Clearly, there are law enforcement officials who understand how devastating the effects of implicit bias can be, but no one understands this more than the people living in communities where racial minorities are disproportionately targeted by police and arrested. The protests in Ferguson, Missouri, are about more than the shooting of Michael Brown; the demonstrations are also about the overall system that makes Brown's fate at the hands of police far too common for young black men. Take, for instance, the massive racial disparities in the war on drugs. Although rates of drug use are fairly similar among white and black Americans, black people are much more likely to be arrested on drug charges. When they're convicted for those drug charges, black Americans also face longer sentences — in part because mandatory minimum sentences on crack cocaine, one of the few illicit drugs that's more popular among black Americans than their white counterparts, are much more stringent than other drug sentences. Even beyond the war on drugs, black Americans are disproportionately likely to be arrested and killed during an attempted arrest. Part of the problem is outright racism among some judges and cops, socioeconomic disparities that can drive more crime, and drug laws that disproportionately affect black Americans. But the other explanation is that cops, like everyone else, carry this implicit bias, which experts agree affects how they police people of different races. Since these are the people who carry out the initial steps of law enforcement, this bias might launch a cascading effect of racial disparities that starts with simple arrests and ends in prison or death. Cops stereotype young black men without being aware of it Lorie Fridell is a University of South Florida criminologist who works with cops to help them resist subconscious biases, particularly against young black men. "Similarly to explicit bias, [implicit bias] groups people into stereotypes and prejudices," Fridell said. "What's different is it doesn’t come with outward hostility." In police work, this bias can show itself when an officer stops a subject he views as a potential threat. Police officers are legally allowed to use force based on their perception of a threat, so long as their perception is reasonable. That doesn't, however, mean they always use force. "Police very often use a lesser level of force even when they’re justified at a higher level," Fridell said. But if some cops automatically consider young black men more dangerous, they probably won't show nearly as much restraint against a black suspect as they would against, say, an elderly white woman. Police officers might be more likely, as some argued was the case with Kajieme Powell in St. Louis, to use deadly force that's legally justified but perhaps not totally necessary. Researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder and California State University at Northridge in May reviewed a decade of empirical evidence about cops and implicit bias. They found police officers seem to possess implicit bias that might make them more likely to shoot black suspects than white ones. But this bias can be controlled through proper training, and police officers appear to perform better — meaning, they show less implicit bias — than participants from the general public. To test these disparities, researchers have run all sorts of simulations with police officers and other participants. In the earlier days, these simulations would quickly flash images of black and white people, along with different objects, and ask participants to identify if the object was a gun. More recently, researchers have used video games to see how people react to suspects of different races. Josh Correll, a University of Colorado at Boulder psychology professor, ran some of these tests with a shooter video game. His initial findings showed police officers generally did a good job of avoiding shooting unarmed targets of all races, but, when shooting was warranted, officers pulled the trigger more quickly against black suspects than white ones. This suggests that officers exhibit some racial bias in how quickly they pull the trigger, but not when it comes to deciding whether to shoot a target. Correll cautioned that these simulations aren't perfectly representative of the real world, because, he said, "What goes on in the street is an open question." Real policing situations are often much more complicated. Factors — such as a real threat to the officer's life and whether a bullet will miss and accidentally hit a passerby — can make the situation much more confusing to police. If cops, as Correll's initial simulations suggest, tend to shoot black suspects more quickly, it's possible that could lead to more errors in the field. "In the very situation in which [officers] most need their training," he said, "we have some reason to believe that their training will be most likely to fail them." Better police training can help overcome implicit bias Perhaps the most optimistic part of the research is that, over time, evidence of implicit biases can be reduced through practice and experience. The longer officers and other participants took part in the simulations, the less likely they were to make errors. Some of Correll's research also found that certain types of training can diminish racial bias. Fridell, of the University of South Florida, capitalizes on this research to help police departments around the country train their officers all along the chain of command. The training relies mainly on the types of shooting simulations used by Correll and other researchers to test cops, but the training sessions are redeveloped to purposely disprove stereotypes against race, gender, age, and other factors. As a result, the training sessions help officers learn to focus more on other cues — body language, what someone is holding — instead of race. (This training isn't generally required by law, but it's becoming more common as concerns grow about racism in the criminal justice system.) Fridell said that this training needs to look beyond race. "In the same way we as humans have stereotypes linking blacks to crime and aggressiveness, we also have stereotypes of lack of crime and aggressiveness," she said, pointing to women and the elderly as two examples. "For a police officer, this might lead him to be under-vigilant against certain groups." Neill Franklin, a retired major who served for 34 years in the Maryland State Police and Baltimore Police Department, said the need for this kind of training is something he witnessed in his everyday work. As the commander in training units in both the state and local police forces, he often pushed for officers to consider their bias before taking any official action as a cop. "[W]e all have this subconscious bias. Even me, as a black police officer, I felt the same," Franklin said. "When I would be in certain parts of the city and see young black males, it would run through my mind, 'What are they up to? Are they dealing?' That's because of what we've been bombarded with for so many years from so many different directions, including the media." Beyond the simulations and training, Fridell said community policing, which focuses on building ties between local police departments and their communities, can help break down stereotypes. This is what's called the contact theory: positive interactions with stereotyped groups can reduce explicit and implicit biases. A cop who interacts with black residents in his town might realize that many of his previous prejudices, implicit or not, weren't warranted. Community policing can work in two directions as well. Just as police's perceptions toward the community change, so do community perceptions toward police. This could, Fridell explained, make communities less defensive — and therefore less aggressive — during police interactions. Franklin, now the executive director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, worries the training might not be enough in the face of perverse incentives in the criminal justice system. Local police departments are under constant pressure to make enough arrests to obtain federal grants, which are often tied in part to, for instance, the number of drug arrests within a city. As is the case in Ferguson, the tickets issued by police officers can also make up a huge source of money for local governments, which might encourage police to issue as many tickets as possible to bring in more revenue. Given those incentives, Franklin said, police are encouraged to go after "low-hanging fruit" often found in minority communities that lack political and financial power. This magnifies the effects of implicit bias. In the end, Franklin suggested the revenue incentive is the root of the problem — and the issue of racial disparities won't go away until that's resolved. Is the black community represented in Ferguson's government? The immediate catalyst of the protests was the shooting and killing of Michael Brown. But the underlying cause is years of racial tensions between Ferguson's minority communities, police, and local government. Prior to the shooting, Americans were already widely discussing the history of police violence against black men, racial disparities in the criminal justice system, and racism in general. This conversation particularly resonated as the deaths of Trayvon Martin, Jordan Davis, and Eric Garner, among others, permeated through the national media. In Ferguson in particular, the problems may have been further magnified by the lack of black representation in the local government. Ferguson is about 67 percent black, according to the US Census Bureau. But Ferguson's mayor and police chief are white, just one of six city council members is black, zero school board members are black, and out of 53 commissioned police officers, only three are black, according to the Los Angeles Times. The reason for these political disparities appears to be low voter turnout during local elections in March and April. MSNBC's Zachary Roth wrote, "This year, just 12.3 percent of eligible voters cast a ballot, according to numbers provided by the county. In 2013 and 2012, those figures were even lower: 11.7 percent and 8.9 percent respectively. As a rule, the lower the turnout, the more the electorate skews white and conservative." Terry Jones, a political science professor at the University of Missouri at St. Louis, echoed the sentiment in an email, writing that the city's white residents "are on average older in age and have resided in Ferguson longer. As a result, I estimate the electorate participating in the April municipal elections remains majority Caucasian." The disparities also apply to the disproportionate number of police actions against black residents. A report from the Missouri attorney general's office found that, although black people were 67 percent of Ferguson's population in 2013, they made up more than 93 percent of arrests carried out by Ferguson police that same year. The statistics and ongoing disparities are why some experts argue that Ferguson's — and America's — problems run much deeper than the shooting of Michael Brown. "The shooting of Michael Brown was the final straw for people in Ferguson," said Darnell Hunt, a UCLA professor and expert on civil unrest and race relations.
