Latinos describe instances of racial profiling

Lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union traveled to Santa Rosa on Sunday to hear accusations that local law enforcement agencies are targeting Latinos at roadway checkpoints, and in effect racially profiling.

"The ACLU has heard several stories about racial profiling," said Richard Coshnear, who heads the Committee for Immigrant Rights of Sonoma County that organized the event.

The ACLU is following up on concerns passed to it, said Julia Mass, one of two San Francisco-based ACLU lawyers who attended the event at James Monroe Elementary School. She said Sunday's event was a fact-finding effort to hear the concerns or stories of Latino citizens.

Organizers of the event claim that DUI checkpoints are being set up to trap unlicensed drivers, rather than the ostensible purpose of arresting drunken drivers, and as a result are targeting Latinos.

About 50 people, mostly Latinos, attended the event. Law enforcement agencies were not invited to the event Sunday to hear or participate in the discussion.

The lawyers asked a series of questions, asking for a show of hands, as to whether people had ever been pulled over for reasons they felt were unwarranted, or if they knew someone whose car had been impounded for driving without a license.

About 80 percent of the audience knew of someone who had had a car impounded; about 25 percent believe they were pulled over without proper reason.

In retelling their stories in Spanish, participants sprinkled in English words that have entered their lexicon, such as "immigration officer," "detention center," "high security" and "gang member task force."

Late last year, Sonoma County law enforcement agencies launched a crackdown on drunken driving dubbed "Avoid the 13," referring to the number of agencies involved in the program. The crackdown started during the holiday season in December 2006 with money from a state traffic safety grant. It has continued into the fall of this year.

But organizers claim that some of the checkpoints appear to be targeting undocumented immigrants instead of just drunken drivers, noting one checkpoint that occurred in a mostly Latino neighborhood at 7 p.m. on a Friday night. Police set up a checkpoint at Sebastopol Road and West Avenue in Roseland on May 25 from 7 to 11 p.m. Officers cited 27 people for driving without a license, compared to three citations for drunken driving. They impounded 24 cars.

Presenters showed a video they said was of a DUI checkpoint on Cleveland Avenue in Santa Rosa on Aug. 3. The Committee for Immigrant Rights hopes to use such videos to determine if Latino drivers are being targeted more frequently than other drivers, Coshnear said.

Not all checkpoints are in Latino neighborhoods. Law enforcement agencies have set up checkpoints near high schools and also along heavily traveled routes during holidays when drinking is more prevalent.

The Sonoma County Sheriff's Department, which has jurisdiction in Roseland, was not prepared to comment Sunday. But Sheriff Bill Cogbill has addressed accusations from the Committee for Immigrant Rights in the past.

In July, Cogbill said that if citizens present him with alleged policy and civil rights violations, "I'm going to look into it," adding that he is confident deputies are acting within departmental limits.

At that time, he suggested the Committee for Immigrant Rights concentrate on overhauling immigration law, such as helping undocumented workers find ways to drive legally.

"Shouldn't you be putting your energy into changing the law, not asking law enforcement to ignore certain laws?" he said.

Back in the 1990s, Santa Rosa tested a program that punished unlicensed drivers by impounding their cars for a minimum of 30 days. The state-funded pilot program became a statewide law in 1995.

From January 2003 to June 2005, the Santa Rosa Police Department impounded 2,064 vehicles when drivers where caught driving without a license, and 88 percent were Latino drivers. Similar percentages were seen in Petaluma and Rohnert Park.

Davin Cardenas, a member of the Committee for Immigrant Rights, said the law should be changed to allow undocumented immigrants to get licenses. It was legal prior to a 1993 state law that requires a Social Security number to get a license.

"People should have insurance, and they should have licenses," Cardenas said. "And let's give them that ability."

You can reach Staff Writer Nathan Halverson at 521-5494 or nathan.halverson@

pressdemocrat.com.