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A Palm Beach Post analysis found that, of the first 458 people arrested for curfew violations, 55 percent were black or Hispanic, which is roughly twice the proportion of minorities in the county's total population. Sheriff's deputies as well as municipal police officers made the arrests. All agencies involved, of course, deny that racial or ethnic profiling played any part in the disproportionate numbers. But neither do they offer a convincing reason why the record is so skewed. Anecdotal evidence suggests that zero tolerance claimed many casualties among the ranks of the innocent or unlucky. A commuting Solid Waste Authority employee, in uniform, was cuffed and arrested. A Hispanic barber looking for a hot shower in a hotel room got a night at the Crowbar Hilton instead. A carpenter looking to fill a gas can wound up filling a jail cell. Besides a night of discomfort and embarrassment, violators had to pay court costs of $210 and impound fees of $110 to get their cars back. [more

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