Oregon lawmakers want to continue to root out cases of police profiling. A House panel Tuesday advanced a measure that would require additional research into the issue.
Last year Oregon lawmakers overwhelmingly approved a measure that defined and banned racial profiling by police departments. No one expected the practice to disappear immediately.
Democratic Representative Lew Frederick is the only African-American in the Oregon House. He told the House Judiciary Committee that profiling is something he knows about first-hand.
"I've had the experience of being stopped and profiled on a regular basis,” Frederick said. “My last one was in October of this last year. And I just had to deal with that, realizing that once a year I get stopped."
But Frederick said he's encouraged by the steps lawmakers have taken to address the issue. He testified in support of a measure that would extend the life of a work group that's tasked with finding ways to make sure police departments are actually complying with the new law.
Copyright 2016 Northwest News Network
