CrimeWatch

PALO ALTO (CBS 5 / AP / BCN) ― The Palo Alto police chief apologized Friday for ordering officers to stop and question blacks on the streets following a recent crime surge that includes a rash of robberies.

Chief Lynne Johnson said the comments she made during a public meeting Thursday night, indicating officers were given instructions for random stops because several suspects were African American, had been misconstrued as indicating the Police Department racially profiles black men.

In a public letter Johnson said, "I apologize for any comments that may have offended any member of our community and I deeply regret any concern that I may have created about the policies and procedures of the Police Department."

Civic leaders became irate and began scrutinizing Johnson following her remarks at the meeting -- including the city manager.

"... Johnson used some descriptions and terminology that could call into question the department's high standards and professionalism," reacted City Manager Jim Keene.

Keene said he met Friday with Johnson, the deputy chief and a group of officers and indicated that Johnson appeared to regret the statements she made.

Among them:

— "When my officers see an African American who has a doo-rag on his head, absolutely the officers will be stopping and trying to find out who that person is," Johnson had told reporters Thursday night after the meeting.

— "When our officers are out there and they see an African American, you know, in a congenial way, we want them to find out who they are," Johnson also said at the time.

— While saying that she did not want to create an environment of fear for "people of color," Johnson added that authorities had to do their "due diligence" in catching the suspects.

Angry civic leaders said Friday that Johnson's comments were irresponsible and called it a classic case of racial profiling.

"We're outraged," said The Rev. Jeff Moore II, president of San Jose-Silicon Valley NAACP. "It's an embarrassment, and it clearly shows there's racial profiling and it continues to go on in the Silicon Valley area."

"This is one chief who made a Freudian slip, plain and simple," he added. 

About two percent of Palo Alto's population of 59,000 residents are black, according to recent U.S. Census figures.

Michael Risher, attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, said "stopping people in the street just because of their skin color is unconstitutional, it doesn't make us safer and it's just plain wrong."

"We all have the right to walk down the street without being stopped by police, without a specific reason that we have broken the law. This type of vague description, just any young black man, doesn't give the police the right to stop us," Risher said.

Police spokesman Dan Ryan defended the chief's statements Friday, saying they were taken out of context and were truncated to appear in the worst possible light.

"There is no way we are targeting African Americans," Ryan said. "It's illegal, immoral and we've never done that."

According to Johnson, a large number of robberies have occurred recently, with most of those incidents happening near Caltrain stations. The suspects in those robberies were described by victims and witnesses as black men and police had released a sketch of one of the suspects.

"While I was not as articulate as I should have been during my comments, I meant to convey that if someone matches the suspect description of one of the robbers, is acting suspiciously, and is in the same area where the robberies occurred, I would expect my officers to contact that person," Johnson said in her letter.

"Unfortunately my statements have been misconstrued, so that some members of the public believe officers will be stopping all African-American males in Palo Alto," she said. "That is definitely not the case."
 
She also reminded any people who are stopped by officers that they have the right not to talk to the police.

Moore isn't buying it.

"How long has this gone on?" Moore asked. "It's sad. You can't live in this city and you can get pulled over for no reason at all. The next question might be are blacks allowed in Palo Alto?"

Moore said he's in the process of organizing protests and pursuing legal action. The chief is really going to have to explain herself, he added, rejecting her apology.

"She has no excuse," Moore said. "This is going to take more than an apology."

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