MSU Police Work to Stop Pro_ling

MSU Police Capt. David Trexler said the plan was prompted by several complaints that police unfairly singled out minorities.

Trexler said several students have complained that there were more police than necessary at predominately black events and that black men were sometimes improperly searched.

The plan, which is aimed at alleviating these problems, provides $25,000 that the university will use to collect data about police officers.

Marked MSU police cars also will be equipped with a camera that records all police activity.

Students will also be given pamphlets on what to do if they are stopped by a police officer.

Trexler added that a police-student partnership program will be created. Three minority student will be paired with police officers and will spend time together going to class, doing a police ride-along and eating dinner with each other.

Police officers will undergo a half day of diversity training as well.

A student security program -- called Green Coats -- will also be formed and will receive training in first aid and how to deal with the public.

A representative of the MSU Black Student Alliance could not be reached for comment.

But UNC Police Chief Derek Poarch said racial profiling is not an issue on the UNC campus.

Poarch said he has not received any complaints of racial profiling by UNC police officers.

He added that the department follows a state racial profiling law requiring every traffic stop to be reported to the State Bureau of Investigation.

Included in the report are the gender and race of the person stopped and whether a search or arrest occurred. A legislative commission is examining the issue of racial profiling on N.C. roadways.

But UNC Black Student Movement president Tyra Moore said racial profiling still occurs on campus and in Chapel Hill -- though no study has proven it.

"Racial profiling happens across the nation, and I don't think Chapel Hill is isolated," Moore said.

"This leads me to believe that while it may not be on the same scale, it is still an issue."

But Trexler said one of the reasons for adopting the policy was to get ahead of the curve.

"Racial profiling is a national issue, and we wanted to go out and be proactive before the problem started."

The State & National Editor can be reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.