CHP Responds to 'Operation Pipeline' Draft Report.SACRAMENTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 30, 1999-- The California Highway Patrol highway patrol n. A state law enforcement organization whose police officers patrol the public highways. today said the "Operation Pipeline" draft report prepared by the Joint Legislative Task Force on Government Oversight lacks objectivity and factual basis. "I agree with Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa's Office of Member Services, which said the report contains no data supporting its contention that racial profiling The consideration of race, ethnicity, or national origin by an officer of the law in deciding when and how to intervene in an enforcement capacity. Police officers often profile certain types of individuals who are more likely to perpetrate crimes. is used in CHP CHP Chapter CHP Combined Heat and Power CHP California Highway Patrol CHP Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi (Turkish: Republican People's Party) CHP Chemical Hygiene Plan (OSHA) CHP Community Health Plan traffic enforcement," said CHP Commissioner D.O. Helmick. The speaker's office characterized the report as anecdotal anecdotal /an·ec·do·tal/ (an?ek-do´t'l) based on case histories rather than on controlled clinical trials. anecdotal adjective Unsubstantiated; occurring as single or isolated event. and lacking in factual content, Helmick said. "Our primary mission is traffic safety. Of our 8,200 CHP traffic enforcement and support staff statewide, only 40 officers are involved in Operation Pipeline," Helmick said. "We have a policy in place prohibiting the use of race as a basis to stop vehicles for any purpose." "During the calendar years of 1997 and 1998, a total of 3,558 pounds of cocaine, 218 pounds of heroin, 58,975 pounds of marijuana marijuana or marihuana, drug obtained from the flowering tops, stems, and leaves of the hemp plant, Cannabis sativa (see hemp) or C. indica; the latter species can withstand colder climates. and 3,980 pounds of methamphetamine methamphetamine (mĕth'ămfĕt`əmēn): see amphetamine; methedrine. were seized by our officers," he said. "Every ounce taken off the highway is an ounce that didn't flow into our communities and didn't affect a driver on the highway." Helmick said the CHP has been working with Governor Davis for months on a method of collecting statistics on the ethnicity of subjects involved in all traffic enforcement contacts. With the Governor's leadership, the CHP is moving forward to compile an annual report and make it available to the Legislature and the public for the next three years. |
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