ACLU Distributes Police 'Bust Cards' & Launches Hotline for Racial Profiling Victims

NEWARK, NJ — Continuing its campaign for fair, unbiased policing in New Jersey, the ACLU of New Jersey launched a toll free hotline — 877-2-END-DWB — for people to report incidents of discriminatory police stops on the New Jersey Turnpike. The ACLU-NJ is also distributing a “Bust Card” that tells all people what to do if they are stopped by the police.
Through the toll-free hotline, the ACLU-NJ will collect people's stories of discrimination and use them in its efforts to stop racial profiling. Individuals calling the hotline may wish to join the ACLU's class action lawsuit on behalf of minority motorists stopped as a result of a policy of racial profiling. The individual stories will supplement statistical evidence showing a pattern of discrimination.
The ACLU-NJ will publicize the hotline through Public Service Announcements all along the Eastern seaboard.
Until racial profiling is ended and other reforms are put in place to ensure fair, unbiased policing, the ACLU-NJ believes it is important for people to know what their rights are when stopped by the police. Accordingly, the ACLU is distributing a wallet-sized card that lays out “What to do if you're stopped by the police.”
The Associated Press reported that the “Bust Card” has been endorsed by several New Jersey State Police troopers. “We think this is good, common-sense advice,” said John Hagerty, spokesperson for the New Jersey State Police. “Certainly if people are acclimated to this knowledge, it would make a stop by a police officer much easier.”
Copies of the Bust Card are available via the Internet at http://www.aclu.org/library/bustcard.html or by calling the ACLU of New Jersey at 973-642-2084. The cards are available in English, Spanish, and Korean.


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