Latinos complain about police harassment
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07240/812590-53.stm
By Diana Nelson Jones, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Leaders of the Pittsburgh Interfaith Impact Network met yesterday with Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato on behalf of Latino residents who have reported mistreatment and harassment during stops by police.

Miguel Rojas-Sotelo of the "Latin American Radio Hour," which airs from 6 to 7 p.m. Thursdays on WRCT-FM 88.3, said callers have reported that police harass them.

He said a group of Latino advocates met with the mayor and a police commander earlier this summer to discuss the situation.

"The commander said there is not any profiling going on," he said, "but what we hear from our community is that there is." He said the reports to the show are mainly of problems in Oakland. He said it is possible profiling is being done by a few without official sanction.

Calls to police, the mayor's office and the county chief executive's office were not returned.

Kevin Evanto, a spokesman for Mr. Onorato, said the meeting was one of several that he has had with representatives from the interfaith group "to talk about various issues and listen to concerns they have as an ongoing effort to promote diversity in the region. He said it was a good, positive meeting."

Latino groups are concerned about animosity that has resulted from the immigration reform debate, and some spokesmen for advocacy groups have said they are trying to work with public officials for a harmonious solution.

"This is an emotional thing, but at the same time, you have to be sensitive to law enforcement," said Victor Diaz of the Pittsburgh Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. "We had this diversity festival" almost two weeks ago, "and people, one a CEO, spoke about Pittsburgh's need for immigration."

A petition with signatures collected after a Spanish-language Mass Sunday in Oakland and a soccer tournament over the weekend urges the city to "take proactive measures to prevent abuse and make Latinos, immigrants and nonimmigrants, and other people of color feel welcome and more secure."