University City residents urged the University City Council to proactively address racism in policing at its September meeting.
Resident John Chasnoff first talked to the council about Clarence Graham, a 55-year-old Black man who is suing University City because he was tackled, unlawfully arrested and his rights were violated as he walked through an affluent neighborhood.
Instead of casually starting a conversation, a University City police officer waited until Graham had left the porch of his friend and sped toward Graham as he was walking alone in the 6300 block of McPherson Avenue. The officer jumped out of the car, demanding to talk to Graham, asking him, “Do you live here?”
Chasnoff told the council:
“The U.S. Constitution requires that police must have reasonable suspicion to initiate a pedestrian stop. The constitution also gives the pedestrian the right to refuse questions that result from an unreasonable stop, yet Mr. Graham was held for seven hours and charges were later dismissed. This should not be something that happens anywhere in our country and it is our duty to stop it from happening here in University City…
“How often does this happen in University City? We do not know, because no statistics are kept regarding pedestrian stops. Missouri law does require data collection of traffic stops, and has resulted in confirmation that “driving while black or Hispanic” is a legitimate concern across the state.
"Blacks are stopped at a rate 44 percent greater than expected based solely on their proportion of the driving-age population while driving in University City. African Americans are 3.5 times more likely to be searched in University City than Whites and 3.7 times more likely to be arrested in University City.
"I am asking you all to consider taking a progressive step, one that would be fitting for a progressive city like ours.
"I am asking that U City become a state leader in volunteering to collect records on pedestrian stops. In doing so we could determine whether these stops are initiated according to constitutional standards, whether they are fruitful in their outcomes, and whether people of color are more likely to be stopped, searched or arrested. We could and should also seek to limit the occurrence of pedestrian stops by clearly defining them and requiring that reasonable suspicion be observed.”
The ACLU of Missouri agrees, too. For the past two legislative sessions, we’ve urged lawmakers to update Missouri’s racial profiling laws to include anti-bias training and require officers track data for pedestrian stops, like Mr. Graham’s in University City, and Michael Brown’s in Ferguson.
Sign our petition to let officials know that racial profiling should be a priority for Missouri.