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Racial profiling focus of talks at local forum
The Huntington-Cabell Branch of the NAACP and the Huntington Black Pastors Ministerial Alliance hosted an open forum on racial profiling and other issues on Thursday, Feb. 11, 2010, in Huntington.
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HUNTINGTON -- State and local officials participating in a forum Thursday urged people who feel they are victims of racial profiling to report the incident to authorities.
Only in that way, they said, can the issue be addressed properly.
The message came from panelists participating in forum sponsored by the Huntington-Cabell Branch of the NAACP and the Huntington Black Pastors Ministerial Alliance. The session, held at the Douglass Centre Auditorium in Huntington, gave residents the opportunity to write down questions on various issues.
Panelists included Huntington's Director of Administration and Finance Brandi Jacobs-Jones, Huntington Police Chief Skip Holbrook, Cabell County Sheriff Tom McComas, Franklin Crabtree from the West Virginia American Civil Liberties Union and Paul Sheridan, deputy West Virginia Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. The forum was moderated by WSAZ Newschannel 3's Carrie Cline.
While audience members' questions were directed at all the panelists, Holbrook and McComas received the majority of them. Several of the questions suggested that audience members believes police have racially profiled people and police administrators had taken no action to combat the practice.
Since no reports have been filed concerning a Huntington Police officer racially profiling, Holbrook said he would not comment on unsubstantiated accusations.
One statement written by an audience member said police officers cursed at someone in an apparent attempt to provoke them. Holbrook said that situation had never been reported.
"I can't stress enough that if a situation like that occurs, there's a mechanism in place at the police department for us to investigate and take corrective action," Holbrook said. "I take pride in us investigating every complaint."
Both Holbrook and McComas said people can file a complaint at their offices in Huntington. Holbrook said complainants can also call him at 304-696-5560 or e-mail him at holbrooks@cityofhuntington.com.
McComas said people can file a complaint at the sheriff's law enforcement division office in the Cabell County Courthouse in Huntington.
Sheridan said making a complaint against law enforcement officials involved in racial profiling is crucial in getting the problem solved.
"A lot of people have concerns that it won't be addressed, but I think it's really important to give departments the opportunity to fix the problem," Sheridan said. "They can't (address the problem) unless they hear about it."
Stephanie Holman of Huntington said the forum was an important first step in addressing racial profiling in the city. Holman said she hoped there will be more meetings in the future that address other issues, such as violence and robberies.
Eva Layne of Huntington said the meeting was informative and gave the community the opportunity to ask questions they've had for a long time. She also hoped more meetings would be scheduled to address racial profiling and other issues concerning Huntington.
"It was a good forum," Layne said. "We can't just do this once. We have to have more meetings so we can talk about what's going on."
