Patrick Smith, LAPD Officer, Faces Dismissal For Racial Profiling Against Latinos

A Los Angeles Police Department investigation concluded that one of their white police officers routinely targeted Latinos for traffic stops and falsified documents to cover up his record of racial profiling, according to the Los Angeles Times .

Officer Patrick Smith, who has been with the LAPD for 15 years, allegedly stopped Latinos based on their ethnicity while working alone on a motorcycle assignment in the department's West Traffic Division. The case marks the first time the LAPD has found one its officers "engaged in racial or ethnic profiling", according to the Los Angeles Times report.

However, a study conducted in 2008 by a Yale researcher found that the LAPD officers stopped blacks and Latinos at significantly higher rates than whites, "regardless of whether they lived in high-crime neighborhoods," according to the Los Angeles Times.

But Los Angeles isn't alone in its unflattering racial profiling history.

Last year, the Department of Justice released a 23 page report illustrating systemic discrimination against Latinos in East Haven, Connecticut by the local police department. The report found that Latinos were subject to disproportionate targeting for traffic stops, non-standard justifications for stops, and "serious incidents of abuse of authority."

"Discrimination and institutionalized indifference remain deeply rooted in the culture of the Police Department," Deputy Assistant Attorney General Roy L. Austin Jr. said at a press conference in New Haven, Connecticut.

Last year, Milwaukee, Wisconsin also garnered unwanted media attention for similar racial profiling charges. Black drivers in Milwaukee were seven times more likely to be pulled over by police than their white counterparts, while Latinos were five times more likely to be stopped, according to a study conducted by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

While an average of 250 formal racial profiling allegations are brought against LAPD officers each year, all incidents have been "cleared" before those concerning Officer Smith, according to the Los Angeles Times. This may have to do with "the murky nature" of racial profiling cases, in that it is difficult to know "what officers are thinking in the moment they make a stop", according to LAPD officials.

Officer Smith will now face a disciplinary hearing, where a three-person board will decide if he will be exonerated or fired for his actions, according to the report.

Comments

[Baby Liz]

11:18 AM on 03/30/2012

"However, a study conducted in 2008 by a Yale researcher found that the LAPD officers stopped blacks and Latinos at significantly higher rates than whites, "regardless of whether they lived in high-crime neighborhoods,"

That's not new..we've always known that..

[agb1953]

06:42 AM on 03/30/2012

The police of Pine Lake, GA were once accused of racial profiling. They stopped cars with temporary paper tags and arrested lots of folks driving stolen cars. 85% of the arrests were of black folks, so they were obviously just a bunch of racists. Except the facts were they had a policy of stopping each and every car on a particular main road with a temporary paper tag. 85% of the cars on that road are driven by blacks. When someone finally figured out that the percentage of black arrests was the same as the percentage of black drivers, nobody in the media wanted to report it. Didn't fit their agenda. They need sensationalism to build ratings. Facts are seldom sensational.

[Sonupv]

07:01 PM on 03/29/2012

Good. Let's not tolerate that in LA...and stop it from becoming Alabama ( or Orange County for that matter ).

[Mailman]

11:29 AM on 03/28/2012

He just told the truth. Now you really know.

[freedom1947]

11:00 AM on 03/28/2012

Typical white american coverup?

[QUATYL]

09:57 AM on 03/28/2012

yes

[QUATYL]

09:51 AM on 03/28/2012

THEN, what races make up latino's and what ethnicity are latino's? It's ok, I know you can't answer it because you don't know yourself. I believe you're trapped in your own comment.

[FireThemAll2012]

08:10 AM on 03/28/2012

I'm ok with the whole, if it looks like a duck and quaks like a duck................bets its a freaking duck scenerio.

[bobbyndallas]

09:25 AM on 03/28/2012

So your white and ok with profiling and abuse, huh

[FireThemAll2012]

10:05 PM on 03/29/2012

yeppers :)

[sixtoes]

03:46 AM on 03/28/2012

"This may have to do with "the murky nature" of racial profiling cases, in that it is difficult to know "what officers are thinking in the moment they make a stop", according to LAPD officials."

So it's perfectly OK for a prosecutor, a cop, a detective, or a jury, to decide "what a defendant was thinking" in the moment they committed a criminal offense so that said defendant can be charged with a hate crime. But if the wrongdoing involves a cop, then it's just "hard to know".

I see. Yep, clear as day.

[arecibo48]

04:57 PM on 03/28/2012

There is no "murky nature" of racial profiling. The evidence speaks for itself. You wouldn't see racial profiling even if it hit you on your face.

[Dick Stone]

02:42 AM on 03/28/2012

First off Latino is not a race, it is an ethnicity. There are black and white Latino's. There are dozens or hundreds of Latino's that play baseball and are black, Spanish is their first language. The current dancing with the stars William Levy is certainly not going to be profiled for his Latino-ness, and he is.

How can it be racial profiling when there is no specific race being profiled. No Mexican is not a race it is a Nationality, just like American does not signify race it is a Nationality..

No such thing as a Latino race, sorry, get another line or another excuse.

[sixtoes]

03:48 AM on 03/28/2012

Would Hispanic be ok?

[Rubenillo]

06:34 AM on 03/28/2012

sixtoes. No I don't like being called a Latino or Hispanic, I like to be call an American b/c everyone in the UNited States Of America came from all over the world except the native American Indians.

[donnielee1949]

05:02 AM on 03/28/2012

you no what their talking about or you wouldn,t be talking about, dont act stupid

[ActaNonVerbaNow]

11:48 PM on 03/27/2012

I don't believe it. LAPD has a stellar record in serving the Latino community.

[Patricia Donalds]

10:57 PM on 03/27/2012

Routine re-investigations, including polygraphs every 5yrs to help fight and prevent police misconduct and corruption. Officers would think twice before breaking laws or rules of conduct. http://t.co/rv9CwYeR

[Jorgelzorro]

10:41 PM on 03/27/2012

Officers are humans they are going to profile you if the law has a window to do so!Simple

[Elecktra001]

09:27 PM on 03/27/2012

Funny how when hp reported that Zimmerman was white, it was okay, but when this officer does the same thing, it's a scandal.

[Ilegal]

08:10 AM on 03/28/2012

there's a huge difference between profiling a person who killed an unarmed kid and a person who's simply driving a car.

[Steve Emery]

09:25 PM on 03/27/2012

This is the funniest thing I have read in a long time. Most of Southern California is Latino and are the majority of the population so why is it racial profiling to make more traffic stops on Latino drivers ha, ha. I hope they don’t transfer Officer Smith to Watts or he will be back on the hot-seat again.