PRINCETON: Mayor says no police profiling in town

By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
Mayor Liz Lempert on Monday said there is “no” issue in town with police engaging in profiling, in giving a more concrete answer to a question that she had faced at a mayoral debate last week.
“There’s no policy to do it at all,” she told reporters at her press conference when the subject came up. On Tuesday the mayor never answered directly yes or no when asked by a moderator at the debate whether there is an issue with police profiling.
Police tactics have come up nationally and in Princeton. The town said this week that is making sure that policing is being done fairly, as Mayor Lempert called it important to “widen the conversation” on racial issues.
“I would say that one thing that the police do, which we want to have them continue to do, is that they’re responsive to calls that come in from the public,” she said. “And I think that’s where it can be problematic sometimes.”
She gave a scenario in which police get a call for a suspicious person in a neighborhood and then respond.
“We don’t want them to not respond, but they’re often the ones who are caught in this uncomfortable position, because the reason why somebody might be suspicious is not even necessarily their activity,” she said. “Because if they were white and doing the same activity, they wouldn’t be suspicious.”
“I think that we have to make sure that the police department feels like they have the tools that they need,” she said earlier when asked her view of whether police should stop random license checks as a councilwoman has called for. “But, again, I think that we want to make sure that we’re mindful of the impact of police activity. And I think that the chief (Nicholas K. Sutter) is sensitive to that.”
Council President Lance Liverman, who sits on the council public safety committee, said at the press conference that he and other committee members monitor traffic stops. The town has hired Rutgers University’s Police Institute to analyze and interpret the police department’s statistics and make recommendations.
Town administrator Marc Dashield added there are “different ways” in which profiling happens.
“And I think we are trying to take steps so that we ensure that the policing that is being done is done in a fair, even-handed way,” Mr. Dashield said. “And we’re constantly looking at it and monitoring it, creating new tools.”
Mr. Liverman later cited how a Chicago Police officer last week did not use her gun to shoot a man who was attacking her “because of the whole media sensation of cops being portrayed as killers.” The officer was beaten unconscious and was hospitalized with various injuries.
“So we don’t want it to go to that extreme either, where police officers won’t run a number or won’t stop someone because they’re afraid of what’s going to happen,” Mr. Liverman said. “It’s a balancing act.”
“It’s a difficult time to be a police officer, I think,” Mayor Lempert said.