Since the hotline's initiation in October 1998, nearly 1000 persons have called to report their stories of race-based police traffic stops. The ACLU-NC will compile these experiences to support SB 78, which will be heard on April 20 in the Senate Public Safety Committee and to educate the public about racial profiling in routine traffic stops.

"We want to put a stop to racist police practices in our neighborhoods and on our freeways," said Michelle Alexander, Director of the ACLU-NC's Racial Justice Project. "Almost every African American and Latino has a story to tell, either their own or a friend's, about being inexplicably stopped and detained by the police for no other reason than 'Driving While Black or Brown.' We will use the stories we collect to make their voices heard in the Capitol to pass SB 78 and to make known to the public just how widespread this problem truly is. Left unchallenged, the problem of DWB stops creates resentment and distrust of law enforcement in communities of color."

To publicize the DWB hotline, the ACLU has launched an ad campaign, supported by two local advertising agencies. The ACLU seeks callers from all parts of California as well as walks of life. "In my experience, being stopped because of one's race is all too frequent, regardless of your age, status, or any other criteria," states Raymond Marshall, President of the State Bar of California. "One night, my wife and I were coming home late from the movies. (We lived at the time in the Oakland hills.) A police car followed us up Redwood Road, and when we turned into our driveway, he followed us into our drive port and ordered us to stay in our car. The officer then approached us in our garage, asked us if we lived in our house, for ID, and to verify our residence. Imagine, in our own house, own property, in our own garage! He never gave us any reason for the stop. Once he verified who I am, he just left, giving no explanation for what had happened."

In another incident, a San Carlos middle school teacher, Milton Reynolds, was also followed to his home and the police officer flashed the siren lights once he arrived in his driveway. "There I was in my driveway, the officer ordered me back into my car," said Reynolds, who also works as a consultant in CoAction, a diversity and communications consulting company. "When I asked the reason for the stop, he told me I had run a stop sign, which was absolutely not the case. He then asked for my license and registration and while he was checking on that information, his partner was sitting in his car stroking his shotgun and looking at me and another police car pulled up. I was very scared. The officer issued the ticket, told me if I had a problem with it, I could see him in court. After that incident, police cars were driving by my apartment, parking in front, even shining spotlights into my apartment. I worried that I was getting paranoid, but then my neighbor asked what was going on, and my fears was confirmed. In the end, the charges were dropped."

The ACLU-NC has also received reports of race-based police stops of Latinos in the Central Valley. "These kind of stops happen all the time here," said Francisco Duarte, pastor of Presbyterian congregations in Corcoran and Fresno. Numerous members of his congregation have been stopped on the basis of race, including his son.

Marshall, urged support for SB 78, legislation that would require law enforcement officials throughout California to collect data on the race and ethnicity of all drivers who are stopped. "Certainly the problem is pervasive enough and merits study. I don't understand the objection to trying to collect data, which will either validate the complaints or vindicate the police," Marshall said. "We need to use the data to promote police practices that furthers confidence in the police force and the justice system."

On Bay Area highways and major city streets, English and Spanish billboards will be posted. The English language billboard, created pro bono by Carol H. Williams Advertising, features three young African American men with the quote, "If I had a dollar for every time I was pulled over by the police..." It is up in 32 locations in the East Bay and San Francisco. The billboard geared to Spanish-speakers, states "@%&! Otra vez me paró la policía por ser Latino," (Once again, the police stopped me for being Latino). HeadQuarters advertising agency created it pro bono.

At the same time, ads in English and Spanish will air on radio throughout the state, also created pro bono by the two agencies. In the English ad, two men are driving in a car and the police are following them.

Guy #1: Everywhere I go, they're there. I'm tellin' you.
Guy #2: Alright be cool. Hold onŠWhy are we scared? We didn't do anything wrong.
Guy #1: Yeah. (Pause) So why are they pulling us over?

Minority law enforcement organizations such as the National Black Police Association and the National Latino Peace Officers' Associations support SB 78. Sponsored by Senator Kevin Murray (D-Culver City), the "California Traffic Stops Statistics Act" will mandate that data on race and traffic stops be collected by police and reported by the Department of Justice. The data will only be used for research and statistical purposes only. Last year, Governor Wilson vetoed AB 1264, Murray's first attempt to require data collection on racial profiling.

In response to mounting criticism of discriminatory police practices nationwide, on April 14, Representative John Conyers, D-Michigan, reintroduced the "Traffic Stops Statistics Act" to study the issue on a national level. Sponsors cite strong anecdotal evidence that racial profiling is a problem countrywide. An ACLU study, based on court-imposed monitoring of the Maryland State Police stops on I-95, showed that although African American drivers were 72% of those pulled over, they were only 14 % of the drivers.