- Originally published in the Montgomery Advertiser February 8, 2005 01
Copyright 2005 The Montgomery Advertiser
By: Jannell McGrew Montgomery Advertiser
State
Rep. Alvin Holmes, D-Montgomery, is calling on the U.S. attorney
general to investigate the Alabama Department of Public Safety, all
state troopers and other city and county law enforcement agencies
across the state for racial profiling. Holmes forwarded his
complaint to U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on Monday. In a
one-page letter, Holmes pointed to an incident during which he said a
white Alabama state trooper issued a speeding
ticket to a black
male
driver. However,
Holmes said the of
ficer noted
on the traf fic ticket
that the male driver
was white.
Holmes contends the officer deliberately falsified the driver's race in
the report. "I am concerned with a pattern and practice and a course of
conduct by law enforcement officers in Alabama to intentionally,
incorrectly report the race of recipients of traffic citations as a
method of hiding their efforts of racial profiling in the state
of Alabama," said Holmes, head of the civil rights division of the
Alabama Legislative Black Caucus. Col. Mike Coppage, director of the
Alabama Department of Public Safety, said he is aware of Holmes'
complaint. Coppage said the matter is being investigated. "We're
looking into it," Coppage said Monday. "We were made aware of it, and
the supervisors in Huntsville are doing an initial investigation into
the situation." The speeding ticket was issued on Jan. 12, to Gabriel
A. Cottrell in St. Clair County. Cottrell was ticketed for driving 78
miles per hour in a 55 mile-per-hour zone. Holmes provided a copy of
Cottrell's driver's license and the speeding ticket to the Montgomery
Advertiser on Monday. "It's obvious that this man is black," Holmes
said.
Article originally appeared on (http://brownwatch.com/).
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