The Wisconsin Policy Research Institute

Pedro Colón made some startling accusations this week.

By Mike Nichols

Pedro Colón made some startling accusations this week.

I didn’t see it reported anywhere, but he did.

During a Joint Finance Committee discussion of whether to make police collect data on the race of people they pull over, the state representative essentially accused a broad array of suburban cops of being racists, of closing off their communities and even locking people up for five days for simply having a beer.

“It doesn’t happen in Milwaukee to tell you the truth,” said the Milwaukee Democrat of minorities being singled out by police. “This may be revealing but most officers in Milwaukee have gotten over it. You just don’t make stupid stops. And you know it seems to exist primarily in the suburbs, I mean at least to the Latino community. I don’t know how it is in the African-American community but all the guys complain. It’s all Greenfield, Greendale, you know, the northern suburbs. And you can bet that you are going to be stopped. And that’s just the way it is, this unwritten rule. After a certain hour nobody gets to come in. We all know what the rule is. We all know these guys are getting stopped. And God forbid that they might have a beer on the way there because then they are going to be in prison or jail for five days.”

Colón went on to say that people should “just recognize” that it happens and that if “the evidence” eventually shows racial profiling is not occurring “that is good to know also because then we can really move on.”

Apparently addressing himself to Republicans on the committee who have a lot of questions about the data collection proposal, he finished up by saying, “I don’t know where you guys get your information.”

Rob Dams, in the meantime, wonders where Pedro Colón is getting his information.

Dams is the chief of police in Greendale. He hadn’t heard about Colón’s comments until I called him and he was pretty surprised. He has talked to Colón in the past, he says, and Colón has never once made those accusations before.

“I would be glad to call Pedro Colón and intend to,” said Dams. “I would like to know what he is referring to.”

Racism among officers simply “will not be tolerated,” the chief added. He even went so far as to say that if he finds out an officer is unfairly targeting minorities, that officer is “done.”

The chief seems serious. He wasn’t just wondering rhetorically where Colón is getting his information. He wants Colón, if the state representative has a complaint about specific incidents, to pass that information along. The Greendale Police Department tapes all traffic stops and he will invite Colón to come in and view the tapes.

“I would invite him to come out and check it out,” said Chief Dams.

I think this is going to be interesting because it sounds like Pedro Colón doesn’t just have one name, he has lots of them. After all, he says, “all the guys” complain. Everyone knows what’s going on. That’s “just the way it is.”

Forcing police to collect lots of data would be no small thing. It would take time away from other things, like fighting crime. And it would cost money. And data alone can be of limited value. That’s why places like Greenfield, which was also mentioned by Colón, have programs in place to identify and prevent any racially-biased policing. There is a complaint process, according to Greenfield Police Chief Francis Springob, and training and day-to-day observations of officers by supervisors. Maybe that’s why Springob is confident his officers only stop people based on reasonable suspicion or probable cause.

But hey, why take anyone’s word for it?

If Pedro Colón really wants to get to the truth, he should give his specific information to Springob as well. And to the chiefs of the northern suburbs. And the chief of Burlington, which he also mentioned. And, just to be certain that he is getting a fair review, the state representative really should take Dams up on the offer to go to Greendale and view the tapes – presuming of course he can get past the officers guarding the borders from minorities.

I know this will be time-consuming and that Colón is a busy man. But this is important. We can’t just sit around and let whole groups of people be targeted, any more than we can sit around and let whole organizations be derided. He should really do it. After all, he is asking police to spend a lot of their time – not just on one day but on many – trying to get to the root of things. Surely he is willing to do no less himself.

We’ll see.

-May 28, 2009

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