Two local human rights organizations recently conducted a study and determined that racial profiling and biased policing are concerns for many Albuquerque residents.
The study, whose findings were published last week, was the first of its kind in Albuquerque. Of the 200 people surveyed, almost 60 percent said they believed racial and ethnic bias by the APD is a serious problem. Ninety-four percent said they think it exists.
"When people believe that racial profiling exists, that should be a concern for the police and government entities," said Frank Miranda, a volunteer for the New Mexico Human Rights Coalition.
Of the residents polled, 35 percent said they had been victims of racial profiling and biased policing by APD and other local law enforcement agencies. They cited traffic stops, slurs and verbal and physical abuse as types of biased policing. More than 80 percent said they knew of someone else who had experienced biased policing or racial profiling by law enforcement agencies in Albuquerque.
"I don't know anyone personally, but I've heard stories," said UNM senior Adrienne Tongate. "People believe minorities commit crimes, but people are being targeted and they're becoming part of the statistics."
According to the survey, those most commonly subjected to racially motivated stops or abuse in Albuquerque were black, Hispanic and American Indian.
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"It makes me feel bad," said TVI freshman Tahnee Wayne. "The way I dress, being Native American, I definitely get profiled. I'm totally against it. They (police) pull you over and do whatever. I've had that done to me a couple of times."
The study's respondents cited APD as the agency most often responsible for perpetrating biased policing and racial profiling, and they also said the department's chief was not making a visible effort to eliminate the problem.
Det. Jeff Arbogast, spokesman for APD, said despite the study's findings, he does not believe the department's officers are perpetrating racial profiling or biased policing.
"We do not racially profile," he said. "That is strictly against our operating procedures. It's not something that we care to do, or have time to do. We're too busy out there taking calls and doing the crime fighting that people expect."
The survey, conducted last August, included a report on biased policing by the Albuquerque Human Rights Office. The documents were created to provide information to the Racial Profiling Task Force, an organization that has not yet formed but was called for recently by Mayor Martin Ch†vez in 2002.
The report was compiled using information from interviews with APD Deputy Chief Joseph Silva along with other law enforcement officials.
The report found that law enforcement officials are not recognizing biased policing, the high number of minority arrests is not being tracked or acknowledged and that law enforcement officers are not trained to handle biased policing or profiling.
"Clearly, people want law enforcement to be more vigilant," said Virginia Candelaria-Mart°nez, director of the human rights office. "There is some biased-based policing going on and I think we just need to explore it and see what we can do to prevent it from happening."
Arbogast said the survey and report is actually a positive thing for APD's image.
"I feel it shows the public that this is not something we tolerate," he said. "I think the idea of racial profiling in a police department is disgusting and our administration feels the same way."
