Metro PD Denies ACLU Allegations of Racial Profiling

A metro police department issued a sharp denial of allegations of racial profiling raised Tuesday by the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, which claimed a review of public records showed black drivers are more likely to be ticketed than white drivers.

In a statement, Ferndale Police Chief Timothy D. Collins said the department takes the allegations “very seriously,” but officials “strongly believe that our department does not racially profile.”

The ACLU filed a Freedom of Information Act request for traffic tickets issued between Jan. 1, 2013 to May 15, 2014. Its analysis showed that though black residents make up less than 10 percent of Ferndale’s population, but were ticketed in approximately 66 percent of the cases in which the race of the drive was known, the ACLU said in a news release.

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The ACLU said its investigation and resulting letter asking city officials to “seek outside help on this issue and, if warranted, implement reforms,” came on the heels of multiple complaints about possibly racially motivated traffic stops, especially near the area of Woodward Avenue and Eight Mile Road, which borders Detroit.

The ACLU classified many of its findings as “startling.”

For example, a single Ferndale officer issued 4,189 citations during the period that the ACLU of Michigan examined. Of the citations given to motorists whose race was recorded, 2,404 citations – or 66 percent – were issued to black drivers while only 1,248 (34 percent) were issued to white motorists.

Another officer issued 4,025 total citations, with 64 percent (2,399) going to black drivers and 36 percent (1,333) being issued to white drivers in instances where the race of the motorist was known, the ACLU said.

“There is no place for racial profiling in law enforcement,” said Mark Fancher, staff attorney for the ACLU of Michigan’s Racial Justice Project. “It’s time for Ferndale to seek outside help on this issue and, if warranted, implement reforms.

“The public cannot have confidence in the police unless they know that law-enforcement decisions are fair and unbiased,” Fancher said.

Collins, who said the department cooperated with the ACLU when it asked for racial data on citywide traffic stops and supplied the information at no charge, questioned the ACLU’s methodology.

“We are disappointed that the ACLU drew their own conclusions from the raw data without contacting or requesting further input,” he said.

Based on these troubling statistics, the ACLU of Michigan wrote a letter to Ferndale police chief Timothy D. Collins encouraging him to appoint independent experts to conduct an in-depth statistical study and evaluation of the department’s police practices.

Collins said his department is interested in “a more productive conversation and informed analysis of the dta involving both the Ferndale Police Department and the ACL

The ACLU said a similar approach was recently taken by the Kalamazoo Police Department based on racial profiling concerns. After the study there revealed that black people in Kalamazoo were more than twice as likely as white people to be stopped by police, the Kalamazoo police chief implemented recommended reforms, according to the release.

“Racial profiling contradicts this country’s most fundamental principles and ideals,” the ACLU of Michigan wrote in its letter. “Every person should be able to live without the fear or experience of being singled out by law enforcement and treated differently because of their color. Racial profiling also places society at greater risk of crime because police are less focused on the conduct of those who break laws, and they are more focused on law abiding citizens who happen to be people of color. In addition, effective law enforcement requires a cooperative relationship between the police and the community.”

In addition to Fancher, Gillian Talwar, chair of the ACLU’s Oakland County Lawyers Committee, also signed the letter.

► Read the ACLU’s letter to the Ferndale Police Department.

► View traffic citation data from Ferndale.

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