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wallpoliceblotter2.blogspot.com/2009/09/in-response-to-steady-stream-of.htmlIn response to a steady stream of complaints by members of the Freehold Borough Latino community and one of our local organizations, Casa Freehold, the Latino Leadership Alliance undertook a study of police ticketing and traffic stop policies in the summer of 2008. It is our goal in this study to publicize and analyze our findings and issue a series of recommendations for Freehold Borough officials to consider and adopt.
The original complaints alleged that Freehold Borough police were targeting Latinos as they drove their children to schools within the district and issuing multiple tickets for driving “illegal taxis.” These residents expressed concerns that police were unlawfully targeting them for expulsion while simultaneously exploiting the situation to generate revenue for the borough. These sentiments are best understood in the context of many years of conflict between the borough government and its local Latino immigrant population.
This contentious history led Alliance members to question whether borough officials were shifting strategies in their seeming battle of wills with the local Latino population. The borough was sued in federal court over its decision to close an informal hiring center (known locally as the muster zone) used by Latino immigrants and lost their case in early 2004. Since then the Alliance has carefully monitored the borough’s policies to ensure that they are not violating the civil rights of the immigrant community. In this regard we have worked collaboratively with the New Jersey Immigration Policy Network who assisted us in some aspects of this study.
Our findings suggest that in relation to the rest of the local population, Latinos receive a disproportionately high number of traffic tickets throughout Freehold Borough. We first reviewed local ordinance violations in the two categories Latino residents expressed as being disparate in enforcement; driving an unlicensed taxi cab and improper operation of a bicycle. The review was then expanded to include all traffic violations issued in a single, sample month (January 2009) and additionally, 40 random dates from August 2006 to December 2008 were chosen. We identified Latinos by using first and last names; the borough does not routinely collect data on the race and ethnicity of ticket recipients.
Of the 1,300 tickets reviewed for this study, 601 tickets or 46.2 percent were issued to Latinos. [See graph on next page]. In the two specific categories brought to our attention by residents, the numbers were significantly higher. With regards to summonses issued for operating illegal taxis, an overwhelming amount 232 out of 247 tickets (93.9 percent) were issued to Latinos in the period from July 1, 2007 to June 30, 2008.
As for bicycle tickets, 82 of the 104 tickets (78.8 percent) reviewed for the period from January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2008 were to Latino bicyclists. [See graphs on page 3 of this report]. The summonses reviewed by the Alliance were requested under the state’s Open Public Records Act.
Police Traffic Stops in Freehold Borough: A Study of the Patterns
September 2009
Latino Leadership Alliance of New Jersey- Monmouth County Chapter
Page 3 of 6
There is a cause for concern considering the disparity in summonses issued in these categories in relation to the percentage of Latinos living in Freehold Borough. According to the 2000 Census, the Latino community made up 28 percent of the borough population. Anecdotally, it appears that the Latino population has increased since then, although no mid-decade estimate from the Census Bureau is available for Freehold Borough. One issue which is difficult to gauge, but important to note, is that many Latino residents have limited or no access to motor vehicles, which may help explain the higher number of bicycle tickets but makes the percentage of motor vehicle incidents of even greater concern. The widespread use of bicycles by the Latino community also helps explain the dependence on car pooling.
A review of the tickets for January 2009 and the random sample of 40 days were more in line with the percentage of Latinos living in the borough. Of the 491 tickets issued in January 2009, 137 tickets or 28.3 percent were issued to Latinos. The results for the random sample were 458 tickets were reviewed of which 150 were issued to Latinos or 32.8 percent.
The Latino Leadership Alliance of New Jersey (Monmouth Chapter) issues this report at this time because the findings are worrisome enough to merit public disclosure and debate. We stop short of alleging racial profiling, but urge Monmouth County Prosecutor Luis A. Valentín to review all bicycle and traffic tickets issued by Freehold Borough over the last five years to determine if biased policing exists. We made this request formally of him in a letter dated January 22, 2009. As the county’s highest ranking law enforcer, the prosecutor has the ability to audit the police department, access police records otherwise off limits to the public, and supersede local police authority. Upon completion of further analysis and policy review, we may present our findings to the New Jersey Attorney General and the United States Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division. Our report and data will be available to the public on our website
www.llanjmonmouth.org within days of this report.
Our findings indicate that Freehold Borough officials from time to time selectively enforce ordinances that have an unequal impact on one segment of the community – the Latino population. The taxi tickets are a good case in point. Borough police officials issued all 247 “illegal taxi” tickets at the borough schools between July 1, 2007 and June 30, 2008. A short time after the Alliance, Casa Freehold, and the New
Police Traffic Stops in Freehold Borough: A Study of the Patterns
September 2009
Latino Leadership Alliance of New Jersey- Monmouth County Chapter
Page 4 of 6
Jersey Immigration Policy Network raised the issue of potential profiling in late 2007 the ticketing came to a virtual stop. How did this happen? If it was an issue of vital concern before our organizations raised the topic, why was it not an issue of vital concern after the issue was brought to the attention of borough officials?
These patterns merit investigation by law enforcement agencies with responsibility for civil rights enforcement and organizations with greater resources and manpower than the Alliance. Our findings indicate a pattern of concern. It is for other investigative agencies to decide whether unlawful actions were taken by the borough in the selective enforcement of its own ordinances and we urge those agencies to fulfill their obligations by reviewing our data.
The issues at the core of this report are very complex and we do not wish to underestimate the challenges that a local municipality faces in securing adherence to perfectly justifiable laws and ordinances. The issue of some residents operating illegal taxis and exploiting the immigrant community by overcharging for fares is a valid one. We know the practice exists, but even accounting for that, the number of tickets issued to Latino residents is not only extraordinarily high, but entirely misguided. Family members and neighbors car pooling children to school is a far cry from illegal taxis operating outside of local supermarkets and shopping districts.
With regards to enforcement of the bicycle ordinance, the biased pattern was quite clear. Those most likely to be ticketed were Latino men riding their bicycles on the sidewalks downtown. This is an issue that strikes directly at the economy of the immigrant community because many cannot afford to drive motor vehicles or are not allowed to do so. Bicycles are their principal mode of transportation to work or home. This issue is exacerbated by the fact that individuals issued summonses for improperly operating a bicycle, are by borough ordinance, required to take time off from work to make a court appearance.
There were very few tickets of this nature issued in the neighborhoods comprised of other demographics throughout the borough. Riding a bicycle on the sidewalk is as American as apple pie. This is an area where education rather than punishment would be a wiser strategy for the borough to pursue. The New Jersey Department of Transportation (DOT) has undertaken such outreach efforts in immigrant communities across the state with much success.
Even if one were to give every benefit of the doubt to Freehold Borough officials, there is at the very least a large measure of distrust between the police department and the Latino community. At a recent community forum held at the First United Methodist Church of Freehold in May the very first question raised of local police was about the perception of police bias in issuing “illegal taxi” tickets.
Police Traffic Stops in Freehold Borough: A Study of the Patterns
September 2009
Latino Leadership Alliance of New Jersey- Monmouth County Chapter
Page 5 of 6
Background:
The most recent allegations against Freehold Borough Police and their ticketing practices began to surface in September 2007 – the beginning of a new school year. Latino parents reported to representatives of Casa Freehold that they were being pulled over increasingly by borough police and being issued multiple tickets totaling more than $1,000 in fines, and in one case as high as $5,0000, for operating “unlicensed taxis.” In some cases, the parents, who work several jobs, asked friends and family members to drop off their children at school. It is customary to subsidize that activity by contributing to the driver for gasoline and car maintenance.
This car pooling arrangement was brought to the attention of borough officials on numerous occasions, including Borough Attorney Kerry Higgins and Police Chief Mitch
Roth. It was raised for the first time in the autumn of 2007. They claimed that there were complaints of children being transported to the schools in an unsafe fashion and sometimes without car seats. This legitimate public safety issue warranted greater community awareness and education. Again, the state Department of Transportation could have been contacted for literature and resources. However, the Borough’s enforcement response did not satisfactorily explain, in our judgment, why neighbors and friends transporting children were issued multiple tickets for operating unlicensed taxis.
Neighbors and relatives transporting children to school for parents working multiple jobs seems like a sound survival strategy and we see the penalization of individuals serving that function as punitive with little positive outcome. As a result, we requested all the tickets issued under the Borough’s taxicab ordinance, and following the ethnic disparities, later broadened our review to look at other violations in the summer of 2008.
As the public and law enforcement officials consider this issue, we argue that it needs to be understood in the broader context of a long and contentious relationship between the Administration of Mayor Michael Wilson and the Latino community. For several years, there has been a debate about overcrowding in the borough schools. Much of the growth in the borough’s school population can be attributed to the influx of a growing Latino population starting in the 1990s. Several years ago, a referendum seeking an expansion of school facilities was rejected by the voters. Many residents opposed the expansion on the basis of the immigration status of Latino children and/or their parents. This despite the fact that school board statistics indicate that over 90% of the students in the district are United States citizens.
In the past, the Wilson Administration publicly fostered a negative attitude towards the Latino community. More recent actions are below the radar but still indicate an unwillingness to accept the demographic changes within Freehold Borough. The “illegal taxi” campaign and the crackdown on bicyclists on downtown streets indicate a failure to recognize the need to reach out to the Latino community. It would seem borough officials would rather punish and discipline the community or, even worse, encourage it to go away.
Police Traffic Stops in Freehold Borough: A Study of the Patterns
September 2009
Latino Leadership Alliance of New Jersey- Monmouth County Chapter
Page 6 of 6
Recommendations:
1. There should be an ongoing and systematic public education program by Freehold Borough Police with regards to motor vehicle operations, bicycle operations and transportation of children. These programs should occur on a quarterly basis. The immigrant community will be a permanent fixture in Freehold Borough for decades to come. The time has come to set aside old battles and embrace the positive contributions that community has made and will continue to make to Freehold Borough. In the last 18 months, Chief Roth has increased the police department’s public education efforts and we commend him for that effort.
2. Police compliment and complaint forms should be placed online on the police department’s website in English and Spanish, so that residents will not feel intimidated about reporting discourteous or abusive behavior by local police. As we prepared to go to print the police department placed the form online in English, which is a step in the right direction.
3. A citizen’s rights document outlining policy responsibilities and expectations should be visibly placed in a visible location in English and Spanish at Freehold Borough Hall and at the police department. At our request, the borough recently placed such a document online in Spanish and English and we believe this is a positive step. A recent visit to the police department revealed that a document explaining the rights of residents in filing complaints against police officers was on display.
4. The Police Department should publicly issue quarterly totals and analysis of complaints against police officers to determine patterns of unacceptable behavior and policy deficiencies. On an annual basis, the police department should release a report with the aggregate information on complaints and meet with the public to discuss concerns and improvements.
5. Minor offenses such as riding a bicycle on the sidewalk should not require a court appearance as is currently the case in Freehold Borough. The person issued a summons for this offense should have the option of pleading guilty and paying the fine without having to lose a day of work.
The Latino Leadership Alliance of New Jersey will continue to do everything in its power to ensure that the civil rights of all residents of the state are safeguarded. We will work to achieve this statewide and locally and we believe the Freehold Borough ticketing matter merits further inquiry. As a statewide organization, we support police officers and their efforts in providing needed services throughout our community. We understand the dangerous and difficult task officers face on a daily basis.
In the case of Freehold Borough, it is not the police officers that concern us the most but rather the practices and policies they are asked to enforce by the governing leadership of the town.
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