Windsor vows to fight ethnic profiling
Police chief promises to investigate any and all complaints of discrimination
Thursday, October 28, 2004
By MARY CALLAHAN
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
About 260 people gathered Wednesday to air concerns about ethnic profiling by Windsor police, winning a pledge from Chief Paul Day and other city officials to fight discrimination.
Day also urged those attending the hourlong session at Cali Calmecac Charter School to call him directly if necessary to lodge complaints. He vowed each would be investigated, without retribution.
"I am very disturbed by some of the stories I heard here tonight," Day said. "If these stories are true, then some of those actions might cause an officer to be fired."
But after the meeting, Day said that in 24 years with the Sonoma County Sheriff's Department, which operates the Windsor Police Department, he had yet to witness discriminatory behavior by a deputy.
He conceded, however, that finding the truth in conflicting versions of a one-on-one encounter was sometimes impossible.
Mayor Deborah Fudge and Town Manager Paul Berlandt appeared with Day at the meeting.
They echoed his pledge to support policies prohibiting discrimination. They also promised that Windsor police won't enforce federal immigration laws, which is also the policy of the Sheriff's Department.
Most of the people who attended the meeting, which was conducted in Spanish, were Latino.
One man said he was stopped by police and forced to stand still with both arms extended when he was unable to produce a driver's license.
Another man, Guillermo Cervantes, said he was struck in the face with his own baseball cap after he became flustered by an officer speaking quickly in English.
Edit Polominos said she saw an officer impound a car, leaving a woman to walk home carrying groceries and two small children.
"I would like that our children not grow up with an image that they are going to be discriminated against," she said.
The meeting was initiated by the North Bay Sponsoring Committee-IAF, an affiliate of the Industrial Areas Foundation, a nonprofit group that seeks to develop community leaders and promote social activism.
Complaints about perceived profiling came to the group's attention through parents and teachers at Cali Calmecac and Windsor's Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, organizers said.
Claudia Esparza Mudgett, a Cali Calmecac parent and co-chairwoman of Wednesday's session, said she began meeting with the sponsoring committee in May. Over months of meetings, she said, "the relationship between the people and the Sheriff's Department was a theme that kept resurfacing."
Michael Viloria, who helped organize the meeting, said the point was to open a dialog and develop a relationship among the Latino community, police and city government.
Windsor's 18-person police force has four Spanish-speaking officers.
City officials promised that officers would courteously explain why anyone was stopped or detained. Day left pens and pads at the meeting for anyone who wanted to submit written questions or complaints.
The city agreed to continue meeting with residents about law enforcement and other issues of concern, scheduling a second session at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 6 at Cali Calmecac.
"Changes will not happen overnight," Day said, "and there may be points on which we agree to disagree, but it's a starting point."
damn it about time people started sayin shit... if i was at the meeting the chief woulda tripped out about the shit ive seen cops do.....
is any other cities doing the same thing to stop racial profileing?
Police chief promises to investigate any and all complaints of discrimination
Thursday, October 28, 2004
By MARY CALLAHAN
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
About 260 people gathered Wednesday to air concerns about ethnic profiling by Windsor police, winning a pledge from Chief Paul Day and other city officials to fight discrimination.
Day also urged those attending the hourlong session at Cali Calmecac Charter School to call him directly if necessary to lodge complaints. He vowed each would be investigated, without retribution.
"I am very disturbed by some of the stories I heard here tonight," Day said. "If these stories are true, then some of those actions might cause an officer to be fired."
But after the meeting, Day said that in 24 years with the Sonoma County Sheriff's Department, which operates the Windsor Police Department, he had yet to witness discriminatory behavior by a deputy.
He conceded, however, that finding the truth in conflicting versions of a one-on-one encounter was sometimes impossible.
Mayor Deborah Fudge and Town Manager Paul Berlandt appeared with Day at the meeting.
They echoed his pledge to support policies prohibiting discrimination. They also promised that Windsor police won't enforce federal immigration laws, which is also the policy of the Sheriff's Department.
Most of the people who attended the meeting, which was conducted in Spanish, were Latino.
One man said he was stopped by police and forced to stand still with both arms extended when he was unable to produce a driver's license.
Another man, Guillermo Cervantes, said he was struck in the face with his own baseball cap after he became flustered by an officer speaking quickly in English.
Edit Polominos said she saw an officer impound a car, leaving a woman to walk home carrying groceries and two small children.
"I would like that our children not grow up with an image that they are going to be discriminated against," she said.
The meeting was initiated by the North Bay Sponsoring Committee-IAF, an affiliate of the Industrial Areas Foundation, a nonprofit group that seeks to develop community leaders and promote social activism.
Complaints about perceived profiling came to the group's attention through parents and teachers at Cali Calmecac and Windsor's Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, organizers said.
Claudia Esparza Mudgett, a Cali Calmecac parent and co-chairwoman of Wednesday's session, said she began meeting with the sponsoring committee in May. Over months of meetings, she said, "the relationship between the people and the Sheriff's Department was a theme that kept resurfacing."
Michael Viloria, who helped organize the meeting, said the point was to open a dialog and develop a relationship among the Latino community, police and city government.
Windsor's 18-person police force has four Spanish-speaking officers.
City officials promised that officers would courteously explain why anyone was stopped or detained. Day left pens and pads at the meeting for anyone who wanted to submit written questions or complaints.
The city agreed to continue meeting with residents about law enforcement and other issues of concern, scheduling a second session at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 6 at Cali Calmecac.
"Changes will not happen overnight," Day said, "and there may be points on which we agree to disagree, but it's a starting point."
damn it about time people started sayin shit... if i was at the meeting the chief woulda tripped out about the shit ive seen cops do.....
is any other cities doing the same thing to stop racial profileing?
