This post is a response to Mayor William V. “Bill” Bell’s recent guest column, “First steps key in long journey to eliminate poverty.” Zero tolerance drug policies cannot alleviate poverty Dear Mayor Bell, Ray Gronberg e-mailed me last week asking me to respond to new language in the city’s anti-poverty initiative calling for a “zero tolerance” […]
Activists Wield Search Data to Challenge and Change Police Policy
DURHAM, N.C. — One month after a Latino youth died from a gunshot as he sat handcuffed in the back of a police cruiser here last year, 150 demonstrators converged on Police Headquarters, some shouting “murderers” as baton-wielding officers in riot gear fired tear gas. The police say the youth shot himself with a hidden […]
SCSJ Files Suit Challenging Mistreatment at Lanesboro Correctional
Five men formerly held at Lanesboro Correction Institution in Anson County, NC have filed a federal lawsuit alleging that officers repeatedly helped gang-affiliated inmates get weapons and wage attacks. Plaintiffs in the case allege that they were violently assaulted by fellow prisoners wielding contraband weapons, and that corrections staff were aware of these attacks and […]
Success In Campaign Against Durham PD Racial Profiling
We are glad to report that the campaign against racial profiling in Durham has begun to result in important and concrete changes to departmental policies. It was one year ago this week that SCSJ joined its partners in the FADE coalition in marching from the Durham Police Department to the steps of City Hall. On […]
Real Experiences with Racial Profiling
Since early 2013, the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, in conjunction with our partners in the FADE coalition, has been sounding the alarm with city leaders about racially disparate policing practices in our hometown of Durham, NC. SCSJ attorneys, analysts, and organizers have played a significant role in supporting members of directly affected communities in […]
Shocking police overreach haunts Southern city: Racial profiling, quotas and secret “conviction bonuses”
Shocking police overreach haunts Southern city: Racial profiling, quotas and secret “conviction bonuses” How a federal grant incentivized a police department to go nuts on drug arrests — and terrorize its community Spencer Woodman This article originally appeared at Salon.com on April 10, 2014. In the late afternoon of Jan. 3, Robin Dean, a […]
SCSJ's Ian Mance interviewed on Durham racial profiling
DURHAM (WTVD) — The Durham Police Department has responded to accusations of racial profiling with a 45-page report that it says shows there is no bias in how officers choose to make traffic stops and search people. Click here to read the report (.pdf) Groups, including the NAACP and the Southern Coalition for Social […]
Time to Act to end racial profiling in Durham
In the continuing community dialogue over allegations of racial profiling and police misconduct in Durham, last night’s meeting featured presentations by SCSJ’s Ian Manceand Daryl Atkinson. Mance opened his presentation by providing an overview of DPD traffic stop data and the results of a multivariate analysis which showed race to be a statistically significant predictor […]
Possibilities vs. Obstacles—Ending Racial Profiling in Durham
The sixth and latest meeting examining racial profiling and police misconduct in Durham took place on Tuesday, January 14, 2014. SCSJ’s partner, SpiritHouse, led the meeting between the Durham FADE coalition and the Durham Human Relations Commisssion, which drew an incredibly large and diverse audience: over one hundred people attended and reflected a real cross section […]
Happy Outcome for Durham Homeless Does Not Absolve City Council and Police of Moral Responsibility for Panhandling Arrests
The Durham Police have endured considerable criticism in recent months for a series of high-profile shootings and revelations about the department’s controversial stop-and-search practices, which statistics show amount to a pattern and practice of racial profiling against black motorists. Now the department’s treatment of the city’s most vulnerable citizens—its homeless population—is also drawing fire, in […]
FADE Coalition Responds to DPD Report
On Tuesday night, the Durham Human Relations Commission held its fourth in a series of special hearings to investigate allegations of racial profiling and selective enforcement by the Durham Police Department. For the second month in a row, Durham Police Chief Lopez and his Deputy Chiefs had the floor for the entire evening. They used […]
FADE presents evidence of racial profiling at Durham PD certification hearing
The Durham FADE coalition is participating in an ongoing dialogue with the Durham Police Department regarding data showing the use of racial profiling in police stop-and-search and marijuana arrests. As part of this movement, today two SCSJ attorneys, Soros Justice Fellow Ian Mance and Criminal Justice Reform Staff Attorney Daryl Atkinson, spoke at the Durham […]
HRC #3–Running from the Numbers
Guess what the Durham Police Department didn’t want to talk about at the third meeting of the Durham Human Relations Commission? The data. The FADE coalition has meticulously gathered and presented data showing extreme racial disparities in police stops and searches. Over the last decade, DPD officers have been more than 100% more likely to […]
Police deny claims of racial profiling
By Jonathan M. Alexander in The Durham News jalexander@newsobserver.com November 13, 2013 DURHAM — Despite the statistical evidence, Durham police refuted claims of racial discrimination at Tuesday night’s Human Relations Commission meeting. The commission summoned a police department representative to answer concerns about alleged racial profiling by officers in black communities and during traffic stops. […]
What we learned at the International Drug Policy Reform Conference
The Southern Coalition for Social Justice was well represented this week at the International Drug Policy Conference, held this year in Colorado, a state on the vanguard of drug policy reform. SCSJ Staff Attorney Daryl Atkinson, Fellow Jeremy Collins, and Soros Justice Attorney-Fellow Ian A. Mance all made the trip to Denver to learn from […]
Durham FADE challenges discriminatory police practices
Durham has been portrayed as one of the most tolerant cities in America, one of the best places to retire, and home to a rich, diverse community. Many Durham residents, however, see a different reality than that on the travel brochures. The “real” Durham, they say, is also characterized by a systemic sickness within its […]