Glencoe Responds to Racial Profiling Claim with Data

About 15 percent of the people stopped for traffic violations in the  have been minorities over the past three years, according to information obtained by Patch. .

Rev. Dr. Michael James of Evanston requested the information after Glencoe police issued him a ticket for cycling through the Sheridan Road construction zone on June 30. James says the stop was racially motivated and several other white bicyclists went through the area without being stopped.  

Here is a look at the racial background of the stops on a year-to-year basis, according to documents obtained by Patch through the Freedom of Information Act from the Glencoe Public Safety Department.

Number of Stops

2009

2010

2011

Caucasian

1961

1917

1440

Minority 

325

359

290

Minority as percentage of total stops

14.22%

15.77%

16.76%

The village estimates the minority driving population in Glencoe for all three years is 19.61 percent and U.S. Census Bureau data shows that Caucasians make up 94 percent of Glencoe's population. 

Since June 26, the village says police have stopped 230 motorists or bicyclists in the area of Sheridan Road that is undergoing a water main improvement project. .”

Reverend seeks public apology

The reverend and NAACP Evanston Branch President George Mitchell have met twice with Glencoe officials to discuss the situation. In early July, James told Patch he was considering filing a racial profiling lawsuit against Glencoe police. Since then, James says he has held off pending conversations with the village.

Mitchell says nothing in the data stood out or would raise alarm bells.

“It is what it is, but the incident itself has more to do with the treatment of Rev. James,” Mitchell said. “I’m hoping to hear some words of acknowledgement of Mr. James complaint. I’d like to hear what the village has to say.”

Mitchell was in the process of trying to set up another meeting with village officials on Aug. 8.

Village: Fact-finding

The village says the matter is still in a fact-finding stage.

“No one is frustrated,” said Pamela Louik, a communications consultant retained by the village. “This is a process we have to see through. Glencoe has never been called on the carpet for anything like this and we are looking at everything.”

. 

Racial profiling became a hot topic along the North Shore in the late 1990s and 2000 after accusations were made against Highland Park Police.

Louik said that is not the case today in Glencoe.

“There are so many safeguards. We have training, there are reporting issues," she said.

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