Pubdate: Mon, 16 Mar 2015
Source: Chicago Sun-Times (IL)
Copyright: 2015 Sun-Times Media, LLC
Contact: http://mapinc.org/url/5QwXAJWY
Website: http://www.suntimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/81
Author: Frank Main

HIGH CRIMES

Expert Rips Rahm's Positive Spin on Impact of Pot- Law Enforcement on 
Blacks, Hispanics

The Emanuel administration has touted as a sign of "progress" 
statistics showing that the percentage of arrests to tickets in 
marijuana cases was about the same for blacks, Hispanics and whites in 2014.

But a deeper dive into the numbers tells a more complex story, one 
that's raising a question among some critics of how much progress is 
actually being made.

When you look at the raw numbers, blacks were busted 16 times more 
than whites for small amounts of pot in 2014- including tickets and 
arrests. And for every white Chicagoan busted for marijuana, four 
Hispanics were busted, according to police statistics. Those stats 
come despite the fact that white Chicagoans outnumber both black and 
Hispanic Chicagoans by a ratio of approximately 3- to- 2.

Last week, though, Emanuel's administration put the focus on the 
percentage of arrests to tickets that was about the same for blacks, 
Hispanics and whites in 2014- calling it "progress."

Several aldermen, including Ald. Howard Brookins ( 21st), chairman of 
the City Council's Black Caucus, reacted positively to that news, 
saying it was evidence of the police treating African- Americans more fairly.

But Kathie Kane- Willis, director of the Illinois Consortium on Drug 
Policy at Roosevelt University, said the overall pot enforcement 
totals actually show a continuing racial bias in policing.

"To me, this speaks to two Chicagos that exist, one for the black and 
brown people and one for wealthy white people," she said.

Marty Maloney, a spokesman for the police department, responded that 
the top six police districts for marijuana enforcement are also the 
top six districts for 911 calls about narcotics crimes.

And all of those districts are predominately African-American.

"In neighborhoods where there are more calls to police from residents 
complaining about narcotics sales or narcotics loitering, there are 
higher levels of enforcement," he said.

More than a quarter of the arrests in 2014 were mandated because the 
offender was committing another crime, Maloney added.

But Kane- Willis believes most of the pot arrests are spinoffs of 911 
calls about more serious crimes like heroin and drug sales in open- 
air-markets. She thinks cops are going on those heroin and cocaine 
calls, frisking people at the scene and finding petty amounts of pot 
in their pockets.

"Why make all these [ pot] arrests when you acknowledge they take 
away officers' time on more serious crimes?" she asked.

Kane- Willis noted that Cook County had the biggest racial disparity 
in marijuana possession arrests among the 25 most populous counties 
in the nation in 2010, according to FBI data and census statistics.

"There's been marginal progress here, but it's still unfair and 
unjust," she said.

Only a state law decriminalizing possession of small amounts of pot 
would end the racial disparities in the numbers of people busted for 
having marijuana, Kane- Willis said.

Cook County Commissioner Jesus "Chuy" Garcia, who is running for 
mayor against Emanuel, declined to comment on the raw numbers of 
arrest and the disparities.

Charlene Carruthers of Black Youth Project 100, a Chicago-based group 
of activists ages 18 to 35, said she doesn't think arresting people 
for small amounts of pot is keeping the city safer.

"It's hyper-surveillance and harassment for what shouldn't even be an 
offense. No one should be arrested for having 15 grams of marijuana 
or less. Even the cost of a ticket could throw someone into a very 
difficult situation," Carruthers said of the citations, which run $ 
250 to $ 500.

Carruthers, the national director of Black Youth Project 100, said 
the group has expressed its concerns to Ald. Danny Solis ( 25th), 
sponsor of the city's pot ticketing ordinance and to police officials.

Chicago cops started writing pot tickets in 2012 when Emanuel pushed 
the City Council to approve an ordinance that would allow officers to 
issue citations for possession of 15 grams or less of marijuana. 
Police retained the option of arresting people on a misdemeanor 
possession charge punishable by up to six months in jail and a $ 1,500 fine.

In 2013, cops issued 1,074 citations, compared with 4,032 last year. 
Meantime, arrests dropped from 14,374 in 2013 to 11,088 last year.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom