STANDING UP FOR FREEDOM
| Civil Rights, Community Groups Urge Racial Profiling Victims to Tell Their Stories at November 13 Forum in Flagstaff |
For Immediate Release: Contact: PHOENIX – Have you ever been a victim of racial, ethnic, or religious profiling? Do you want to hear about what others have faced because of their background? If so, join local community groups from the Flagstaff area at a racial profiling forum at 7 p.m. Thursday, November 13th at Killip Elementary School Gymnasium, 2300 East 6th Avenue, in Flagstaff. The event, which is hosted by the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, is free and open to the public. “Racial profiling is a very real problem that affects people from all walks of life and that’s precisely why all these groups have come together to draw attention to this discriminatory police practice,” said Alessandra Soler Meetze, Executive Director of the ACLU of Arizona. “We want to give people an opportunity to share their stories in hopes of raising awareness about the real harm that is caused when police use skin color as a substitute for evidence.” The community forum is being co-sponsored by Democracy for America – Flagstaff, NAU Women & Gender Studies Program, Southside Community Association, Sunnyside Neighborhood Association, the Coalition for the Repeal of Arizona’s Anti-Immigrant Laws, the NAU Commission on Ethnic Diversity, Northern Arizona Interfaith Council, Friends of Flagstaff's Future, Save the Peaks Coalition, Taala Hooghan Infoshop and Equality Arizona. The groups, along with the ACLU, are urging individuals who have had experiences with police and the criminal justice system to come forward and tell their stories in an effort to increase dialogue about how to eliminate racial profiling on Arizona’s streets and highways. Local Flagstaff attorney Lee Phillips will be among the presenters at the community forum, along with National ACLU Racial Profiling Campaign Coordinator King Downing. Phillips joined the ACLU in filing a landmark class action lawsuit challenging the practice of racial profiling by the Arizona Department of Public Safety. After nine years of litigation, the case was settled and DPS is now required to collect data on all traffic stops and modify search procedures to ensure that all officers obtain written permission from drivers before conducting so-called “consent” searches. A nine-member Citizen’s Traffic Stop Advisory Board, which includes three ACLU representatives and other community members appointed by Governor Janet Napolitano, continues to monitor DPS’ compliance with the settlement agreement. NAU Professor Luis Fernandez and Coconino County Supervisor Liz Archuleta currently serve as the Flagstaff-area representatives on the advisory board. The racial profiling forum comes on the heels of a recent study commissioned by the ACLU that shows racial profiling by DPS is still a continuing problem. The report, which is available on-line at www.acluaz.org, found that Native Americans traveling along I-40 were two times more likely than whites to be searched by DPS officers, despite the fact that whites were more likely to be carrying illegal contraband. The report also found that minorities, including African Americans, Latinos and Middle Easterners, were consistently stopped for longer periods of time than whites traveling on all interstate highways in Arizona. This unequal treatment was not justified by higher contraband seizure rates from minority motorists. The ACLU plans to work with the community groups sponsoring the forum to identify viable strategies for eliminating discriminatory police stops, including implementing meaningful civilian oversight of police and enacting statewide legislation requiring mandatory data collection of traffic stops. Spanish translation services will be available at this event. Click here for the English flyer and click here for the Spanish flyer.
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