Black Teens Driving in the Wrong Part of Town: Suit Alleges Excessive Force & Racial Profiling By Burnham Police

 
Clean Cut Black Students Caught 'Driving While Black'
The village of Burnham, in the South suburbs has been hit with a lawsuit that says four of its police officers are guilty of racial profiling. There are only about 4,000 people in Burnham and the 2000 census indicates that more than half are black. Now a federal lawsuit filed by four black teenagers claims four white police officers in Burnham pulled the teenagers' car over on the night of March 4, used vulgar language, pulled three of the teenagers out, then slammed two of them against the car. The boys are James Woods, a musician who dreams of playing with the Chicago Symphony; Matthew Locke, a National Honor student; his brother Brandon Locke, an athlete; and friend Jeffrey Lockett. Their federal lawsuit alleges three officers of the Burnham Police Department pulled them over for “driving while black.” Aubrey Locke is the father of two of the teenagers. "At the end of the incident, Brandon Locke asked the police officers, 'Was all this profanity necessary?'  And that's when the police said, 'Get over it.  Welcome to Burnham,'" said Locke. The lawsuit says the teenagers were not ticketed or charged with anything.  The suit claims police used excessive force and stopped the car because the people inside it were black. The suit asks for the village of Burnham to pay damages. [more] and [more] and [more]