All I can do is ask for forgiveness for transgressions in the past. Chief Streicher said the department must address public concerns. His comments came in the context of a state and national discussion on how to address the issue of racial profiling. Police agencies sometimes use race or ethnicity as a basis for stopping drivers for traffic offenses when they really are looking for criminals such as drug traffickers. Ohio State Rep. Peter Lawson Jones, D-Shaker Heights, is sponsoring a bill that would require police to track the race, sex and age of motorists they stop and ticket.
Similar legislation is proposed at the federal level.
If legislation is passed, it would provide a way to gather statistics that aren't being collected and analyzed now. Once the statistics are there, it could change the police practice of pulling people over based on race, Mr. Jones said Monday night. Action could be taken against departments or officers who stop people because of their race, he said. The law itself also should be a deterrent to avoid profiling, he added. It is a reality.