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Controversial policy reinstated despite concerns for Hispanics
BY CHRISTINE ARMARIO
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May 21, 2007, 11:17 PM EDT
Suffolk County police have reinstated a patrol policy mandating the arrest of all unlicensed drivers who cannot produce identification, despite concerns raised that the policy discriminates against Hispanic residents.
More than two-thirds of the drivers arrested under the policy from April 11 to May 2 were identified on police reports as Hispanic, and most of the arrests were in the Third and Sixth precincts, communities with large Hispanic populations, arrest records show.
The policy was suspended earlier this month for departmental review after District Attorney Thomas Spota noted that the numbers were concentrated in Farmingville -- an area where Hispanic day laborers have long been known to congregate and look for work.
Suffolk Administrative Judge H. Patrick Leis III also had raised concerns about the policy. But Monday, Spota and Police Commissioner Richard Dormer rejected any notion that the policy had been selectively enforced and welcomed its reinstatement.
"I have no reservations about the value of arresting motorists who are driving without a license and possess no other form of valid ID," Spota said in a statement. "And I've received assurances that this policy is being implemented uniformly."
Police said it is being implemented throughout the county's seven precincts.
"From our initial review, up to this point, the officers were not engaged in racial profiling," Dormer said last week. "They were enforcing the vehicle and traffic law."
Asked why most of the arrested drivers were Hispanic, Dormer said, "They're not arrested because of their ethnic background. It comes back to who's driving without a license."
The commissioner said it was unclear why the majority of arrests took place in two precincts, but said that "if [the arrest is] in an area with a predominant ethnic group, most of the stops are going to be of that group. It's common sense."
The police department is instituting the policy as a means to reduce traffic fatalities. Suffolk County has repeatedly had the highest number of fatal car accidents in the state, and the police said unlicensed drivers are more than three times as likely to be involved in such crashes than licensed drivers.
A spokesman for Leis said the judge had been advised that the policy would be reinstated, but that Leis did not have any part in the decision. "Administrative Judge Leis will rely on the district court personnel to keep him apprised as to any impact on district court operations," spokesman Warren Clark said.
BY CHRISTINE ARMARIO
[email protected]
May 21, 2007, 11:17 PM EDT
Suffolk County police have reinstated a patrol policy mandating the arrest of all unlicensed drivers who cannot produce identification, despite concerns raised that the policy discriminates against Hispanic residents.
More than two-thirds of the drivers arrested under the policy from April 11 to May 2 were identified on police reports as Hispanic, and most of the arrests were in the Third and Sixth precincts, communities with large Hispanic populations, arrest records show.
The policy was suspended earlier this month for departmental review after District Attorney Thomas Spota noted that the numbers were concentrated in Farmingville -- an area where Hispanic day laborers have long been known to congregate and look for work.
Suffolk Administrative Judge H. Patrick Leis III also had raised concerns about the policy. But Monday, Spota and Police Commissioner Richard Dormer rejected any notion that the policy had been selectively enforced and welcomed its reinstatement.
"I have no reservations about the value of arresting motorists who are driving without a license and possess no other form of valid ID," Spota said in a statement. "And I've received assurances that this policy is being implemented uniformly."
Police said it is being implemented throughout the county's seven precincts.
"From our initial review, up to this point, the officers were not engaged in racial profiling," Dormer said last week. "They were enforcing the vehicle and traffic law."
Asked why most of the arrested drivers were Hispanic, Dormer said, "They're not arrested because of their ethnic background. It comes back to who's driving without a license."
The commissioner said it was unclear why the majority of arrests took place in two precincts, but said that "if [the arrest is] in an area with a predominant ethnic group, most of the stops are going to be of that group. It's common sense."
The police department is instituting the policy as a means to reduce traffic fatalities. Suffolk County has repeatedly had the highest number of fatal car accidents in the state, and the police said unlicensed drivers are more than three times as likely to be involved in such crashes than licensed drivers.
A spokesman for Leis said the judge had been advised that the policy would be reinstated, but that Leis did not have any part in the decision. "Administrative Judge Leis will rely on the district court personnel to keep him apprised as to any impact on district court operations," spokesman Warren Clark said.
