Building trust
by Nancy Hernandez
News-Post Staff

	Guy Djoken is the Frederick County branch president of the NAACP. He says racial profiling complaints have dropped significantly since the 1970s and 1980s. Staff file photo

FREDERICK — Racial profiling complaints came in by the dozens each month to the Frederick County branch of the NAACP in the 1970s and 1980s. These days, branch president Guy Djoken fields about five complaints a month.

“It is less and less the case, but it’s not something that will go away overnight,” Djoken said.

The local branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has been working with law enforcement agencies in the county to improve relations between officers and minority communities.

Mistrust on either side can lead to misperceptions or negative interactions, he said.

Sometimes minorities believe they were racially profiled, but when they meet with police, they realize law enforcement officers were just doing their jobs, Djoken said.

Today, the type of car a person drives may attract more police attention than race, said Sam Bennett Jr., chairman of the Frederick County Human Relations Commission. The HRC monitors discrimination in Frederick County and reports to the county commissioners.

“You’re less likely to be pulled over in a Volvo than a Mustang GT,” he said.

On the other hand, some officers might not realize they have a bias and are stereotyping, Djoken said. Regardless of whether officers recognize their biases, those biases can influence how they conduct traffic stops.

“If they don’t trust you, it might lead to a different reaction,” he said.

HRC member Fred Wenner, a retired reverend, said many people used to believe that any black man driving an expensive car must be a drug dealer.

While he believes race relations have improved, he suspects that mentality still exists to some degree. He knows a young black man who was recently followed and stopped by police for having molding missing from his car.

The man has tattoos and had just dropped off a friend in a neighborhood that struggles with drug problems. Wenner wonders if the man was stopped merely because he had missing molding.

“How do you determine if it is racial profiling or not?” Wenner said.

The explanation by police agencies that they stop and search only people who have committed violations doesn’t answer the larger question about why minorities are stopped and searched at higher rates than whites, Djoken said.

The problem is highlighted further by data that show minorities are less likely to have contraband seized in searches.
The police explanation infers minorities commit more crimes and denotes officer bias, he said.

“That is what we are fighting,” Djoken said.

He believes standards should dictate how and when stops are conducted.

Lydell Scott, director of the Frederick County Human Relations Department said more uniform and stringent standards are needed when it comes to collecting and reporting racial data. The department is responsible for investigating claims of discrimination.

Without accurate data, it is impossible to know if profiling or discrimination takes place, she said.
HRC and NAACP members said drivers who believe they were targeted because of their race should file formal complaints with the appropriate police agency.

Griping to friends doesn’t help the agency correct problems and unfairly tarnishes the reputation of good officers, Djoken said.

Overall, local law enforcement agencies, particularly the Frederick Police Department, have taken steps to curb racial profiling, Wenner said.

“I believe the community understands officers aren’t perfect but they are working hard,” he said.