Ebinger: Innocent Until Proven Guilty

Moorhead Police Chief David Ebinger spoke to the Moorhead Human Rights Commission Tuesday to address escalating concerns on racial profiling and police accountability. His presence was well received in the first of what could be many community dialogues on the subject.

Cindy Shawcross, a representative from Mujeres Unidas, (a women’s civil rights Latino group) also spoke at Tuesday’s meeting to address concerns on police accountability. In a private interview, she related her thoughts on the meeting’s outcomes.

“We were listening to the Moorhead Human Rights Commission, and it felt like they weren’t asking any of the questions that we’ve had. They weren’t really dealing with the larger issue, which is that people want to talk about racial injustice in this community,” she said.

The meeting resulted from local activists’ efforts to retrieve traffic stop data that had not been released by the City of Moorhead. Ebinger recently released the data, but its results raised more questions than answers.

The 2004 Traffic Stop Data Report and previously released 2002 report indicated higher pullover rates for people of color. Even so, Ebinger expressed the sentiment that racial profiling does not occur in the Moorhead Police Department. In Tuesday’s meeting, he reiterated this claim. He also explained several ways the MPD is able to make it so.

New police complaint forms were presented at the meeting, printed in both English and Spanish. Ebinger said he intended to have these forms in all squad cars, available to any who ask, should a civilian complaint arise.

He also explained how the Vision Hawk digital squad car surveillance system enables him to keep a watchful eye on his department. The dashboard mounted digital camera activates when a squad car turns on its pullover lights. Not only does this documentation provide visual testimony for court proceedings, but it allows Ebinger to investigate any complaint or accusation against his department.

The system seems foolproof, but in light of previous events, one cannot avoid some healthy skepticism. What happens in the mind of an officer before he/she turns on those cherries? Such surveillance, as advanced as it may be, cannot document the thoughts of an officer before he/she pulls someone over.

As for complaints of excessive force, Ebinger announced the coming of the taser-cam. Police-issued tasers will soon be fitted with video surveillance systems that activate the moment an officer removes the safety switch. According to Ebinger, this should hinder the likelihood of excessive force.

Joel Powell Dahlquist, chairman of MSUM’s Sociology and Criminal Justice department, said that there are “almost no minorities in law enforcement (in Moorhead).” He explained that Moorhead is simply too “homogenous” to be able to produce high numbers of minority officers.

The Moorhead Human Rights Commission inquired how many officers of color are in the MPD. Ebinger informed them that there are only two Latino and two Native American officers in his department. When asked how to increase these numbers, Ebinger suggested the development of scholarships for minorities who wish to become officers.

As commendable as these things may be, his sentiment toward what he called “gatekeepers” has some concerned. He said he wants residents to address him personally with their concerns, although he acknowledged the fact that officers can make people uncomfortable.

“My wife gets pulled over by the police; makes her nervous as she can be,” he said.

The “gatekeepers” or mediators, such as the media and various activist groups, “create a wedge” between him and the residents of Moorhead, he said.
“He really doesn’t want scrutiny in the police department. He really doesn’t want anyone to have any kind of authority over what the police department does or doesn’t do,” Shawcross of Mujeres Unidas said.

While this meeting was a step forward for community openness, will Ebinger continue to cooperate? Will he follow through and remain on the frontline of civic discussion? Only time will tell.