Pubdate: Sun, 04 Dec 2005
Source: Fayetteville Observer (NC)
Copyright: 2005 Fayetteville Observer
Contact:  http://www.fayettevillenc.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/150
Author: Sam Moore

ADDRESS THE ISSUE OF RACIAL PROFILING

According to a police statement, Jamal Davis was stopped for driving 
with a suspended driver's license. The Nov. 23 article, "Heroin found 
before death," says the car was registered to a woman living in 
Sanford. If the car was registered to someone else, the police could 
not have known who was driving it at the time it was stopped. If the 
police did not know the identity of the driver, how could they have 
known that his driver's license was suspended?

They could not have known. Which begs the question, "Why, truthfully, 
was Davis stopped?"

Perhaps Davis was stopped because it was almost 11 p.m. Perhaps 
because the area he was stopped in hosts some less-than-desirable 
elements. Perhaps because he was an African American. I submit that 
it was a combination of the three. Racial profiling.

This traffic stop was nothing less than a fishing expedition. "Let's 
pull him and see what we've got." This time police were lucky. Davis 
was not squeaky clean. This fact, however, does not make it OK. The 
issue of racial profiling in Fayetteville needs to be addressed.

When pulled over by an officer, most inquire as to the reason for the 
stop. In Davis' case, the law could not have given him an answer -- 
at least not right away.

Sam Moore

Fayetteville
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake