Pubdate: Wed, 05 Jun 2013
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Copyright: 2013 The Washington Post Company
Contact: http://mapinc.org/url/mUgeOPdZ
Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/491
Author: Annys Shin
Page: B1

RACIAL PROFILING FEARED IN POT CASES

As Arrests Surged Over Decade, 9 of 10 Suspects in D.C. Were
Black

Even as the first residents trickle into city-sanctioned dispensaries
for medical marijuana, the District is locking up more people than
ever for marijuana possession, according to an ACLU analysis released
Tuesday.

Possession arrests surged more than 60 percent between 2001 and 2010,
one of the largest increases in the nation, the civil liberties group
found. Arrests of African Americans accounted for much of that
increase, raising concerns among community leaders and criminal
justice experts about racial profiling by police.

"I travel around the city and I see undercover 'jump-out' cars east of
the river, and I don't see them uptown or in Georgetown," said the
Rev. Anthony J. Motley, a prominent Southeast pastor. "We want the
laws enforced, but make it equal."

Based on 10 years of census and FBI crime data, the study found that
on average, an African American is nearly eight times as likely to be
arrested for marijuana possession as a white person, even though
blacks and whites use marijuana at similar rates.

The report - "The War on Marijuana in Black and White" - says such
racial disparities in possession arrests were found in all regions of
the country. "In over 96 percent of counties with more than 30,000
people in which at least 2 percent of the residents are black, blacks
are arrested at higher rates than whites for marijuana possession," it
says.

Of those arrested for possession in the District, nine out of 10 were
African American, a statistic matched only by Baltimore. By contrast,
82 percent of those arrested in Philadelphia were black, and in
Brooklyn, 62.5 percent were black.

Between 2001 and 2010, the disparity in possession arrests between
blacks and whites widened, the analysis found - particularly in the
District, said Ezekiel Edwards, director of the ACLU's criminal law
reform project and an author of the report.

Peter Reuter, a public-policy professor at the University of Maryland
who has studied arrest rates for marijuana possession, said age also
plays a factor. "If you are a marijuana user under the age of 21, you
have a much higher chance of getting arrested than a 35-year-old," he
said.

Reuter has found the same widening of racial disparities in arrests
for marijuana possession in his own research. The reasons behind the
increase in possession arrests among African Americans, however, is
unclear, he said.

"The real puzzle is why is this going on. If you look at statements by
police chiefs across the country, you don't see a crackdown on
marijuana. It seems to be the result of other kinds of arrest
strategies," Reuter said.

One possible example is the New York police department's controversial
"stop-and-frisk" policy, in which officers who have a "reasonable"
suspicion that someone has or will commit a crime and is a threat may
stop that person and frisk for weapons.

The policy has been criticized as a form of racial profiling, but
Reuter noted that there have been increases in marijuana possession
arrests in parts of the country where there is no stop-and-frisk.

In the Washington area, Reuter found that the majority of those
arrested for possession are rarely sentenced to prison. He added that
marijuana possession arrests appeared to increase in the District
after 2009, further suggesting that a change in police tactics may
have resulted in more arrests.

In a statement, D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier said her office
needs to take a closer look at the report, but she denied that the
city has made a concerted effort to target marijuana possession.

"Since day one, my priority has been combating violent crime, and the
District is safer as a result," she said.

Lanier also agreed with the ACLU's conclusion that the number of
arrests is not a good measure of police performance. She asked: "Isn't
it better for a community if arrests drop because there are fewer crimes?"

A D.C. police source also noted that the ACLU report's aggregated data
don't account for the fact that in 2012 and 2013, the percentage of
blacks arrested was 85 percent, far lower than the 91 percent for 2010.

The ACLU cast its findings as further support for decriminalizing
marijuana, which the report calls "the smartest and surest way to end
targeted enforcement of marijuana laws in communities of color."

Legalization has been steadily gaining traction in recent years. The
District and 17 states have legalized medical marijuana, and national
polls have shown a shift in public opinion, with a majority of
Americans in support of some form of legalization.

"The country seems to be saying it's time to treat marijuana as a
public-health issue like alcohol, and yet we are spending millions on
arrests for possession in communities of color," Edwards said. "It's a
peculiar crossroads we are at."
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