Staff Editorial: Prevent racial profiling

College senior Dimitri Dube's accusation that two University of Pennsylvania Police officers stopped him in an instance of racial profiling is disturbing, and the Division of Public Safety's efforts so far have been appropriate and encouraging. Promoting a dialogue and making its members available for discussion is important as it begins efforts to solve a critical problem, and it must continue.

But as members of the minority community have pointed out, simply acknowledging an error is not enough. Measures must be taken to ensure that incidents like these never occur.

Public Safety's report found that Dube had acted legally when he was stopped by Penn Police. It also found that the police officers involved had not violated protocol.

If this is, in fact, the case, the problem lies in the department's guidelines and procedures. And steps need to be taken promptly to correct these flaws.

Public Safety's statement and last night's meeting are encouraging and important first steps toward a solution. Dialogue between the police and the minority community is vital if there is to be a satisfactory resolution to the issues raised by the incident.

But discussion is not enough. The Penn community must be sure that the problems the Penn Police have identified are not forgotten when the clamor calms. Any policies that allow possible instances of racial profiling to occur must be changed, and Vice President for Public Safety Maureen Rush and Chief of Police Tom Rambo must be vigilant in seeing that those changes are implemented.

And the dialogue must continue. This is not the first time that the Penn Police have been accused of racially-motivated actions and it is important that members of the minority community feel comfortable bringing their grievances to the department and that the department undertake to make them aware of its efforts. There should be no reason for any member of the community, save criminals, to fear the Penn Police.

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