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HOUSTON, Aug. 12 (UPI) _ Houston police
are moving to adopt new measures to make sure officers do not rely on racial profiling
in arrests and ticketing, or in other encounters they initiate with the public.
Officers will now have to fill out
a form detailing the race, age and gender of anyone they stop or question for any
reason.
Racial profiling occurs when a person
is suspected of possible criminal behavior primarily because of his or her race.
The department's Houston Police Officers
Union and other employee group representatives said they favor the effort.
Mayor Lee Brown says the new measure
is being taken as part of a growing nationwide resistance to racial profiling, and
not because the National Urban League, a black political organization, held its annual
convention in Houston this week.
But Police Chief Clarence Bradford
says he fears the measure could have unforeseen and negative consequences.
He says it may prompt officers resentful
of the new paperwork demand to look for any reason to issue a ticket or make an arrest
just to justify the time and effort of filling out the form or to deflect allegations
of racial profiling.
Bradford said: "We are concerned
about that. We'll have to work through it."
Neither Brown nor Bradford said they
believe racial profiling is widespread police practice.
Brown said, "We don't know if
it is a problem here in Houston, but we owe it to the community to find out."
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