The Norwalk Police Union is refuting a state representative’s claims that he was racially profiled during a traffic stop in the city.
According to the union, State Rep. Bruce Morris, a Democrat representing Norwalk, told the Judiciary Committee on March 20 that an officer had pulled him over for no apparent reason as he was returning home from meetings in Hartford one night.
Morris “made a claim that he was recently the victim of racial profiling when he was stopped by a Norwalk Police Officer” in a part of the city “that isn’t HIS area of town,” police union president Sgt. David Orr said in a written statement.
“If considered without any further information this might lead someone to believe that Mr. Morris was the victim of racial profiling,” Orr wrote.
According to the Connecticut Post, Morris said he drove through a green light the night of March 17, while the officer claimed it was red. Morris was not cited or charged.
"That gentleman knows he had no right. As a grown man, to go through the humiliation I went through was unnecessary. They treat us as less than human, less than equal. Racial profiling is alive and well in the state of Connecticut," Morris said at the Judiciary Committee meeting, according to the Connecticut Post.
Or, on the other hand, called the allegations “misleading, inflammatory, and just plain ridiculous” and said the officer who stopped Morris is a department veteran with nearly 20 years of experience. According to Morris, the officer is known around the state as a “prolific expert” in motor vehicle law and traffic enforcement.
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Orr also said it’s “nearly impossible” to determine the race of another driver at night.
“Mr. Morris seized the opportunity to publicly make an accusation of racial profiling against a police officer knowing very well that because he hadn’t filed a formal complaint there would be no opportunity for the officer to refute the allegation and no real finding of facts to support Mr. Morris’ accusation,” Orr said in the statement. “The fact is that Mr. Morris committed a traffic violation in a highly active business district and that he was pulled over by an officer just doing his job. That’s all, nothing more.”
Morris has not returned a request for comment.
