I don’t think this panel is looking at the right problem.
“To sustain a complaint would require the officer to say, ‘I stopped that motorist because he was black or Hispanic.’ And what officer is going to admit to that?” Obayashi said.
Exactly. But that is what racial profiling is.
Why not look at racism within the department? When an officer responds to a domestic disturbance, they have to deal with the individuals involved in the complaint. The officers aren’t profiling, they have no choice but to interact with the involved parties. However, if the officer(s) responding have racist attitudes, they will much more likely be inclined to respond inappropriately.
I’m not surprised that the number of complaints is miniscule.
Complaints, by their nature, happen after the event.
And since the victims of racial profiling are usually just executed by cops on the spot…
It sounds as if the process does in fact need revision. And in addition to everything else, becoming known to your local police department as that person who made a profiling complaint. No one could possibly be afraid of adverse consequences from that.