Reno City Council: The troops—American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, Alliance for Workers Rights, League of United Latin American Citizens, Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, NAACP and Unlimited Intervention to name a few—have amassed their forces. They are ready to argue on behalf of a study that would track potential racial profiling as it applies to the Reno Police Department’s arrest and traffic stop record.
Last time these folks showed up for public comment at a city council meeting, they spent more than an hour urging the city to reconsider its decision to drop a proposed study. The study had been shelved, says Chief of Police Jerry Hoover, because of a funding shortage. The study’s cost was estimated to be around $40,000.
On June 11, City Manager Charles McNeely seemed prepared to head off another endless public comment session. So he announced at the outset that, with an OK from the police department, the study will commence.
“We have money in the budget,” he says. “The only request I would make is that these community groups ought to be involved up front rather than waiting to the back end.”
Councilman Dave Aiazzi notes that the police are concerned that citizen activists might come back at the end of the study and say the study’s methods were flawed. He also suggested that some groups might want to contribute financially to the project.
“I already contribute with my tax dollars,” one activist mumbled.
Allen Lichtenstein, an attorney with the ACLU of Nevada, commended Hoover’s willingness to proceed with the study. But the ACLU didn’t wait until the last study was done to indicate that the data being collected—or lack thereof—would taint the results.
“We started criticizing the first study when it was announced because the data was not adequate to address the problem,” he said. “We’re looking forward to working together on this. … Better late than never.”