Moose: Racial profiling is still a problem

Jen Lawson

Monday, March 10, 2003 | 11:04 a.m.

As the racial profiling debate continues in the Nevada Legislature, Montgomery County, Md., Police Chief Charles Moose said officials across the country need to keep working to end racial profiling.

Moose, the man who led the Washington Beltway sniper investigation last fall, spoke Friday at the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives' annual conference at the Flamingo. Racial profiling is not as rampant as it once was, he said, but it remains a big problem.

"With all the terrorism, homeland security and other concerns about the economy, we can't lose track that it's still an issue," Moose told reporters during a break at the conference. "Racism and sexism are main issues in America, and they are main issues in law enforcement."

A study delivered to state officials last month indicated Nevada police stopped black drivers at a rate disproportionate to the black population in the state.

The study also found that blacks and Hispanics were more likely than whites and Asians to be handcuffed during a traffic stop, and vehicles driven by blacks were searched twice as often as those of white motorists.

Moose said profiling is often flawed: During the search for the sniper who shot 13 people last fall, pundits speculated that the suspect was a white man between the ages of 22 and 32, because people who have committed such a crime in the past have fit that profile.

But the two men arrested in the shootings turned out to be very different: 17-year-old Lee Malvo and 41-year-old John Muhammad were black.

"Let the police deal with evidence, not speculation," Moose said.

Although white police chiefs outnumber black police chiefs, he said, the biggest pressure he felt during the search was doing a good job, not scrutiny because of his race.

Moose pointed out that the police chief who initially led the ongoing JonBenet Ramsey murder investigation in Boulder, Colo., is no longer chief.

But Moose emerged from the sniper investigation as a hero.

His wife, Sandy, saved copies of newspapers for him to read after the suspects were caught. In one New York Times article, a reporter asked President Bush if he thought the FBI should take over the investigation.

"He said he thought the guy who is running it right now is doing a good job," Moose said. "I wish she had shown that one to me during everything, because I think that was a great message."

The oddest part of being an instant celebrity was people asking for his autograph, he said.

Fan mail began to trickle in during the deadly shooting spree, but arrived in heaps after police arrested the suspects.

"It was great hearing from old friends and acquaintances," Moose said. "It was very rewarding to hear they are proud of how I turned out."