Racial Math on Turnpike: More Stops, Fewer Arrests, and Divided Conclusions
:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
TRENTON, Jan. 12 - The argument over racial profiling by state troopers in New Jersey has become an argument over numbers.
To the lawyers who have leveled charge after charge of racial profiling on the New Jersey Turnpike since 1994, the first survey of highway users and a new breakdown of stop-and-arrest rates by race are clear proof that troopers are stopping minorities at a greater rate than before, even though the number of arrests declined.
But to state officials, the results are inconclusive, and proof that they need time to collect more data and install a better reporting system. "You ask me what does it mean that stops are marginally up and arrests are marginally down, and I don't have answers to that question," Attorney General John J. Farmer Jr. said on Wednesday, when the new statistics were released. "The whole point of the reform effort is to put into place a system that will enable us to tell you what these numbers mean."
Even the Black Ministers Council of New Jersey, which is leading the drive for new anti-profiling laws, said it was willing to give the police the benefit of the doubt, at least until the next set of numbers comes out this summer.
In April 1999, when state officials stopped denying that state troopers on the turnpike were singling out minority drivers, they agreed to start releasing periodic summaries of all traffic stops by state troopers by race and by offense. The first such report was released last year. The assumption was that any evidence that minorities were being stopped at rates greater than their numbers on the highway would be proof of bias, and the report released on Wednesday, which included the first look at the racial makeup of the turnpike's users, seemed to show just that.
According to the figures, blacks accounted for about 12.5 percent of all motorists on the turnpike but experienced 23.3 percent of all stops during the six months from May through October last year. Blacks were driving 22 percent of the vehicles stopped from January through April, the period covered by the first of the state's periodic reports.
William H. Buckman, a Moorestown lawyer, filed one of the first racial profiling lawsuits in 1994 after becoming suspicious over the number of minority defendants coming to court with tickets for petty violations. To him, the latest report shows the practice is continuing.
±³Åë´Ü¼Ó ÀÎÁ¾º° ÆíÇ⼺, ¾ÆÁ÷ ´ÜÁ¤Çϱ⠾î·Á¿ö
´ºÀúÁöÁÖ °æÂûÀÇ ÀÎÁ¾º° (±³Åë´Ü¼Ó) Áý°è°á°ú¸¦ µÑ·¯½Ñ ³í¶õÀÌ ¼öÄ¡ ³í¶õÀ¸·Î ¹Ù²î¾ú´Ù.
1994³âºÎÅÍ ´ºÀúÁöÁÖ À¯·á °í¼Óµµ·Î»óÀÇ ÀÎÁ¾º° (±³Åë´Ü¼Ó) Áý°è°á°ú¸¦ °è¼Ó ºñ³Çؿ º¯È£»çµé¿¡°Õ °í¼Óµµ·Î ÀÌ¿ëÀÚ Á¶»ç¿Í ÀÎÁ¾º° ´Ü¼Ó - üÆ÷À²ÀÇ »õ·Î¿î ³»¿ªº° ¼öÄ¡°¡, üÆ÷ÇÏ´Â ¼ýÀÚ´Â ÁÙ¾îµé¾úÁö¸¸ ÁÖ °æÂûÀÌ ¼Ò¼ö¹ÎÁ· Ãâ½ÅÀ» Àüº¸´Ù ´õ ÀÚÁÖ ´Ü¼ÓÇÑ´Ù´Â ¸í¹éÇÑ Áõ°Å°¡ µÇ°í ÀÖ´Ù.
±×·¯³ª ÁÖ °ü¸®µéÀº ÀÌ·± °á°ú·Î ¾î¶² °á·ÐÀ» ³»¸± ¼ö´Â ¾ø°í ´Ù¸¸, ¾ÕÀ¸·Î ´õ ¸¹Àº ÀڷḦ ¼öÁýÇÏ°í º¸´Ù Á¤È®ÇÑ º¸°íü°è¸¦ °®Ã⠽ð£ÀÌ ÇÊ¿äÇÏ´Ù´Â Á¡À» µÞ¹ÞħÇÑ´Ù°í º¸°í ÀÖ´Ù. Á¸ J. ÆÄ¸Ó ÁÖ ¹ý¹«Àå°üÀº »õ·Î¿î Åë°è¼öÄ¡°¡ ¹ßÇ¥µÈ ¼ö¿äÀÏ¿¡ "´Ü¼ÓÀÌ ¾à°£ ´Ã¾î³ ´ë½Å üÆ÷°¡ ¾à°£ ÁÙ¾îµç °ÍÀÌ ¾î¶² Àǹ̰¡ ÀÖ´À³Ä°í Áú¹®ÇÏÁö¸¸ ³ª·Î¼´Â ±× Áú¹®¿¡ ¹«½¼ ´äº¯À» ÇÒ ¼ö ¾ø´Ù"°í ¸»Çß´Ù. "°³¼± ³ë·ÂÀº ¿À·ÎÁö, ¾ÕÀ¸·Î ÀÌ·± ¼öÄ¡µéÀÌ ¹«¾ùÀ» ÀǹÌÇÏ´ÂÁö¸¦ ¹àÇôÁÙ ¼ö ÀÖ´Â ½Ã½ºÅÛÀ» Á¦´ë·Î °®Ãߴµ¥ ÀÖ´Ù".
ÀÌ·± Áý°è°á°ú°¡ ³ª¿ÀÁö ¸øÇϵµ·Ï »õ·Î¿î ¹ý±Ô Á¦Á¤¿îµ¿À» ¹úÀ̰í ÀÖ´Â ´ºÀúÁö ÈæÀμºÁ÷ÀÚÇùÀÇȸµµ °æÂûÀÇ ÇàÅ¿¡ Àǽɽº·± Á¡ÀÌ ¾øÁö ¾ÊÁö¸¸ ÃÖ¼ÒÇÑ ¿Ã ¿©¸§¿¡ ´ÙÀ½¹ø Áý°è¼öÄ¡°¡ ³ª¿Ã ¶§±îÁö´Â ¼±ÀÇ·Î ÇØ¼®ÇÏ°í ½Í´Ù°í ¹àÇû´Ù.
1999³â 4¿ù ÁÖ °ü¸®µéÀº ÁÖ °æÂûÀÌ À¯·á °í¼Óµµ·Î»ó¿¡¼ ¼Ò¼ö¹ÎÁ· Ãâ½Å ¿îÀüÀÚµéÀ» °¡·Á³»°í ÀÖ´Ù´Â Á¡À» ´õ ÀÌ»ó ºÎÀÎÇÏÁö ¾Ê°í, °æÂûÀÇ ¸ðµç ±³Åë´Ü¼ÓÀ» ÀÎÁ¾º°, À§¹Ý À¯Çüº°·Î ºÐ·ùÇØ ±× °³¿ä¸¦ Á¤±âÀûÀ¸·Î °øÇ¥Çϴµ¥ µ¿ÀÇÇß´Ù. ±×·± ù ¹øÂ° Áý°è¼öÄ¡°¡ Áö³ÇØ ¹ßÇ¥µÇ¾ú´Ù. ¼Ò¼ö¹ÎÁ· Ãâ½Å ¿îÀüÀÚµéÀÌ µµ·Î ÀÌ¿ëÀÚ ºñÀ²º¸´Ù ´õ ³ôÀº ºñÀ²·Î ´Ü¼ÓÀ» ¹Þ´Â´Ù´Â ¾î¶² Áõ°Å°¡ ³ª¿Â´Ù¸é ±×°ÍÀº Æí°ßÀÌ ÀÛ¿ëÇϰí ÀÖÀ½À» µÞ¹ÞħÇÑ´Ù°í °¡Á¤ÇÒ ¼ö Àִµ¥, À¯·á °í¼Óµµ·Î ÀÌ¿ëÀÚÀÇ ÀÎÁ¾º° ±¸¼ººñ ¼öÄ¡°¡ óÀ½À¸·Î Æ÷ÇÔµÈ Áý°è°á°ú°¡ ¼ö¿äÀÏ¿¡ ¹ßÇ¥µÈ °ÍÀ» º¸¸é ±×·± Á¡À» º¸¿©ÁÖ°í ÀÖ´Â µí Çß´Ù.
ÀÌ ¼öÄ¡¸¦ º¸¸é À¯·á °í¼Óµµ·Î¸¦ ÀÌ¿ëÇÏ´Â ¸ðµç ¿îÀüÀÚ Áß ÈæÀÎ ºñÀ²Àº ¾à 12.5%Àε¥, Áö³ÇØ 5¿ùºÎÅÍ 10¿ù±îÁö 6°³¿ùµ¿¾ÈÀÇ ¸ðµç ±³Åë´Ü¼Ó °Ç¼ö Áß ÈæÀÎÀÌ ¹ÞÀº ´Ü¼ÓÀº 23.3%¸¦ Â÷ÁöÇß´Ù.
´ºÀúÁöÁÖÀÇ Ã¹ ¹øÂ° Á¤±â º¸°í ±â°£ÀÎ (Áö³ÇØ) 1¿ùºÎÅÍ 4¿ù±îÁöµµ ÈæÀÎÀº ´Ü¼Ó Â÷·®¼öÀÇ 22%¸¦ Â÷ÁöÇß´Ù. ¹«¾î½ºÅ¸¿î¿¡¼ Ȱµ¿ÇÏ´Â º¯È£»ç Àª¸®¾ö H. ¹öÅ©¸ÕÀº
|