For their part, police and village officials deny allegations and plan to appeal the decision on Martinez. While welcoming a federal probe, they also question the statistics, which, they note, were compiled by an officer who has his own discrimination suit pending against the department. We certainly hope the federal investigation, should it materialize, finds there was no systematic targeting of minorities, whether sanctioned by department leaders or not. The Mount Prospect case, along with current allegations of racial profiling by the Highland Park police, underscores how sensitive police relations with minority groups have become in the suburbs. Other suburban communities would benefit if their officials take this opportunity to reinforce standards of conduct for all municipal employees and review current practices to ensure they do not leave themselves open to similar charges in the future.
Police do a difficult and often unrewarding job on our behalf.
We need to be proud of them and the work they do without wondering whether civic peace is being achieved at the cost of the civil rights of any individuals. Individual police officers need to be proud of how they do their work and confident that work has earned the respect and support of the entire community.