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$5 million lawsuit accuses RB Police of racial profiling
by Jason Dietrich
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Firpo Carr is suing the Redondo Beach Police Department for $5 million for allegedly violating his civil rights. Photo by Jason Dietrich |
A Lawndale man took a stand Friday in front of Redondo Beach City Hall.
Firpo Carr told reporters that he was the victim of racial profiling by the Redondo Beach Police Department this summer when he was stopped in his car near the Galleria at South Bay. Carr then served police officials with a $5 million civil rights lawsuit.
Carr said the reason he was singled out by police was because he was black.
"The only way to approach this is to shove myself down their throats. We don’t want it to become known that police officers can get away with doing whatever they want in the South Bay."
In the lawsuit filed Dec. 1 in a Los Angles County District Court, Carr, a civilian employee of the Los Angeles Police Department, asks for $2 million in general damages and $3 million in punitive damages.
Redondo Beach City Attorney Jerry Goddard said that it would take the city’s lawyers more than a week to work through the suit and fully understand the claims being made. This is the first lawsuit against the city that specifically alleged racial profiling, said Goddard, adding that the concept behind the phrase was not a new one.
"It’s the same attempt to demonstrate discriminatory behavior by a different name," Goddard said.
In Carr’s corner Friday were Muslim minister Najee Ali and singer Randy Jackson, brother of pop superstar Michael Jackson.
"This is a national problem. It has happened to a lot of people and the way our system is set up, you have to hit them in the pocketbook," Ali said.
"I think it’s happened to everyone, If you’ve lived as an African-American it’s happened to you. It’s up to us to take appropriate action. It’s happened to so many people that they think justice won’t be served, but when they see people getting together like this, saying this won’t happen anymore, then they’ll stand up," Jackson said.
Carr’s lawsuit tells the following story:
He was trying to leave the parking lot of the CompUSA store near the Galleria in Redondo Beach about 4:30 p.m. Friday, June 30. His car was stopped by Redondo Beach police officer Walter Sawall, who told Carr he was investigating a report that a forgery was made at the store. Sawall asked Carr, who holds a Ph.D. in computer science and trains Los Angeles Police Department officers in computer science, "’So watcha doin’ way out here?’ as if Dr. Carr, a black man, did not belong in Redondo Beach." When Carr asked for a description of the person who had allegedly committed the crime, Sawall would not answer him.
When Carr suggested that he fill out a report form used for racial profiling incidents, Sawall stepped back, put his hand on his gun and said, "You don’t scare me," said Carr, at the news conference Friday.
"I kept my hands where he could see them because I was scared. I didn’t want to give him any excuse to shoot me," Carr said. A second police unit arrived and Carr was told he could leave. Carr said he made a formal complaint to the Redondo Beach Police Department, which found no irregularities in the incident.ER