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"We can't duck this issue," Reno said, adding that the Justice Department has had "a number of investigations under way" of specific cases, trying to determine if police are violating individual rights by targeting people based on their race.
While recognizing organized police opposition to such inquiries, Reno said "hard facts" are needed to determine if the practice is widespread. "And let's - where we see the problem - do something about it," she said.
A proposal to require a national study of why police stop and search motorists died in Congress last year but will be taken up again.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Customs Service said it was establishing an independent review panel to evaluate complaints of racial bias from airline passengers who have been strip-searched by inspectors looking for smuggled drugs.
The agency is facing at least a dozen lawsuits over body searches, including a class-action complaint by 100 black women in Chicago who claim they were singled out because of their race and gender.
Reno, declining comment on Customs Service practices, told her weekly news briefing that some individual police departments are trying to make officers more sensitive to minority concerns through
training and other techniques.
On a recent visit to San Diego, she said, she learned that motorcycle officers who stop motorists for traffic infractions are encoding racial data on hand-held computers as part of a community study.
"They're not compiling specific case information," she said. "They're compiling numbers to see if there is an unwarranted skewing that would indicate an inappropriate reliance on a racial profile.
"I think that speaks volumes for what police can do in other ways to, No. 1, identify the scope of the problem, and No. 2, to take steps to correct it," she said.
The House last year passed a bill sponsored by Rep. John Conyers Jr., D-Mich., a leading member
of the Congressional Black Caucus, to require a Justice Department study of racial and ethnic statistics
on traffic stops by state and local police.
Conyers told his colleagues, ``There are virtually no African American males _ including
congressmen, actors, athletes and office workers _ who have not been stopped at one time or another
for an alleged traffic violation, namely DWB _ driving while black.''
The House-passed bill, however, died in the Senate Judiciary Committee, when Sen. Orrin Hatch,
R-Utah, the chairman, refused to call hearings because of opposition from the National Association of
Police Organizations, the National Troopers Coalition and some other law enforcement groups.
Robert T. Scully, executive director of NAPO, which represents 4,000 police unions, said Thursday
he still opposes a national study. Police would resent being asked to collect data on the race or ethnic
background of those they stop and often search, and many motorists probably would balk at
furnishing such information, Scully said.
Reno said, ``We want police officers to bring the community together rather than to divide it,'' but
``it's very hard to get the police to get you to trust them when you think you've been unfairly
treated.''
The Justice Department's goal, she said, is ``good, effective policing that can help make our
communities safe (and) most officers to their jobs under extraordinarily difficult circumstances day in
and day out.''
LA TIMES-WASHINGTON POST-04-08-99 1842EDT
Late tomorrow and early Sunday, the agency plans to split the computers controlling air traffic around the airport and spin the clock ahead to Jan. 1, 2000, in half of the systems.
The radar systems will track both commercial flights and an FAA Lear Jet flying over Grand Junction, in western Colorado; Denver, on the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains; and Colorado Springs, located to the south.
During the four-hour test, technicians will check computer software changes designed to solve the Y2K problem. Early computer programs used a two-digit format to read dates, and there has been widespread concern about problems when the year changes from "99'' to "00,'' which unrepaired computers may construe as 1900 instead of 2000.
For safety's sake, the FAA plane and the small amount of commercial traffic expected during the midnight hours will be tracked by air traffic control systems not participating in the exercise.
Afterward, the computers will be rejoined and tapes from both sides will be sent to the agency's technical center in Atlantic City, N.J., for comparison. The results will be released next week.
Denver International Airport was chosen for the test because its computers can be split and track flights on parallel systems. The airport gained some infamy when it opened in 1995 for its $5 billion pricetag and an automated baggage system that had a propensity to chew up luggage.
"This is an extremely important test to the national airspace system,'' said Ray Long, head of the FAA's Y2K program. Long said he doesn't anticipate problems, but if they are encountered, "That's why you do testing.''
Each year, more than 600 million people - and billions worth of goods and mail - travel through U.S. skies. All do so with the aid of the FAA's computerized air traffic control system.
Because of that, many pe hae sworn off fg ovr the New Yesliy, cling hehefecuitive officer and other top officials at Australia's Qantas Airlines. The carrier has never a atal crash.
"I wilat ur headquarters stone col sobder watchiwhat happens and ready to take quick actions,'' Qantas CEO James Strong said Thursday in Adelaide, ali, in a speo a ational meeting of accountants. "The last place I'd a ke executiv beis in the a' While there may be some glitches, the FAA is confident planes will not fal ofthe sky as 1urns to 2000. ore likely result it ar traffic conters ill spread planes apart to enlarge existingety uffers, reducth system's effncy nd creating ht dlays. The timing is especially troublesome, since the century will change as Friday turns to Saturday on a busy holiday travel weekend.
The live test is an important benchmark and public relations challenge for the FAA.
Both the agency in particular and the Transportation Department in general have received failing grades from Congress, the General Accounting Office and the department's own inspector general over Year 2000 preparations.
The FAA missed a March 31 deadline, by which time the Clinton administration had wanted all "mission critical'' government computer systems to be repaired, tested and operational.
As of March 31, only 108 of the 151 FAA mission critical systems had received the necessary repairs and tests, for a 72 percent completion rate.
FAA Administrator Jane Garvey, who will join Long for this weekend's test, has declared the agency will complete its work by June 30. To demonstrate their confidence in the repairs, Garvey and Long plan to fly coast-to-coast on New Year's Eve, hitting the Year 2000 crossover repeatedly as travel through the continent's four time zones.
The agency predicted the average price for regular, self-service gasoline will peak at $1.18 a gallon in May and average $1.13 a gallon during the summer.
The price jump was attributed to an expectation of a continuing upward track in crude oil prices because of recent agreement among world producers to reduce production.
Prices also have been affected, especially in California, by refinery problems. The average price for regular self-service gasoline in California peaked at $1.59 a gallon on April 5, which was 49 cents a gallon higher than a year ago, the agency said.
The agency predicted that crude oil prices will continue to rise, with West Texas intermediate selling at $15.63 per 44-gallon barrel yesterday moving to $18 by the end of the year.
Gasoline demand this summer is expected to increase by 2 percent over a year ago because of continued economic growth and prices, though higher than last year, still moderate by historic standards, the agency said. Still, gasoline stocks were high, especially in the East, with no supply problems anticipated.
The Energy Information Administration is the statistical arm of the Energy Department.
04-09-99
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