http://desmoinesregister.com

Polk deputy targets Hispanics, group says
The charges are 'not true,' sheriff's officials say of the complaints about traffic stops.

By JOSE DE JESUS and KEVIN DOBBS
REGISTER STAFF WRITERS


October 25, 2005



A Des Moines activist group has accused a Polk County sheriff's deputy of targeting Hispanic drivers for traffic stops.

Sheriff's officials describe the charges as "categorically not true" and have turned down an invitation to discuss the matter at a public meeting Thursday.

Eliseo Belmares said he was driving the speed limit and had violated no traffic laws when Deputy Shawn Van Hoozer, who is white, stopped him near Grimes on Aug. 5.

"He saw me as Hispanic and stopped me," said Belmares, a 35-year-old Mexico native who moved to Des Moines from Kansas in 2000.

He and two other men, both members of Citizens for Community Improvement, allege that Van Hoozer stopped them based strictly on skin color. The other two men couldn't be reached for comment. All three were ticketed for driving without a license or insurance.

Leaders of the activist group say records and videotapes supplied by the sheriff's office show that of 42 tickets Van Hoozer wrote between May 27 and Aug. 19, half went to Hispanic drivers.

Hispanics make up about 4 percent of Iowa's population.

Belmares claims that Van Hoozer "told me that he had looked up my license plates in his computer and it showed that I didn't have" a valid Iowa license. The state requires drivers to obtain a license within 30 days after they move to Iowa.

Belmares had only a Kansas license.

Belmares said Van Hoozer also asked about his immigration status, despite the Kansas identification. "I feel like it was racist because of the way I was pulled over," he said.

The sheriff's department would not allow Van Hoozer to comment.

Angela DeJonge Meraz , an organizer for Citizens for Community Improvement, said Van Hoozer's traffic ticket count shows evidence of racial profiling. But Bill Vaughn, the sheriff's chief deputy , said the count may appear high because many Hispanics, including Belmares, worked housing construction jobs last summer in Van Hoozer's patrol area, a stretch of Iowa Highway 141 near Grimes.

The sheriff's department's policy does not allow racial profiling, Vaughn said. Meraz's group asked Sheriff Dennis Anderson to address the men's concerns at a public forum Thursday. Anderson was out of town Monday and could not be reached for comment.

Vaughn said officials have so far reviewed patrol-car videotapes of Van Hoozer's traffic stops and interviewed him.

"The accusations are categorically not true," Vaughn said.

As for Thursday's meeting, he added: "If there is something that needs to be fixed, we want to fix it. But we are not willing to go into an emotionally charged meeting and get beat up without having a chance to investigate this first."

Vaughn said Belmares and the activist group can file formal complaints. DeJonge Meraz said the men first want Anderson's attendance at the forum and assurances that they will not be retaliated against.

Vaughn said it's important to note that the traffic stops in question all led to valid tickets and "were based on probable cause."

"Some had to do with equipment violations, some had to do with registration problems," Vaughn said. "They were legitimate stops."

Carlos Rios, director of the Immigrant Rights Network of Iowa, said he has heard similar allegations from Hispanics in Polk and neighboring counties. Racial profiling of Hispanics "is happening, and it doesn't surprise me," Rios said. "And that's why we need better community and police relations."