Only in California: SF public defender accuses police of racial profiling

December 10, 2013

Holloway Boys

SAN FRANCISCO — 

An attorney with the San Francisco’s Public Defender’s office is accusing San Francisco police of using racial profiling tactics after he says his client was shown a book of photos called the “Lakeview Book.”

"This is a book where police are profiling young African American men," Kwixuan Maloof  said.

Maloof says the book includes men with arrests records and known gang members, but also includes men with no records.

"So if there's a 'Lakeview Book', I can assume there's a 'Mission Book'. I can assume there's a 'Bayview Book', but there's probably not a 'Pacific Heights Book'," Maloof said.

San Francisco Police Chief Suhr argues the racial makeup of the book is determined by the gang and their affiliates, not police.

“You've heard the phrase, 'you can't tell the players without a program'. This is the program," Suhr said.  "These books are not racial profiling," said Suhr.

While Suhr acknowledges that some of the men in the book do not have arrest records in San Francisco, they have been seen with known gang members – either in person or on social media.

"And if they're in the company of known gang members, they're demonstrating of their own volition they're associated, whether they've been arrested or not," Suhr said.

Maloof says his client, who is on trial for murder, was in the book.  He adds that seeing the contents of the book could help his case.

But Maloof says the larger issue is the existence of such books.

"Anytime you have somebody who's never been charged with a crime, but is being labeled something you should be concerned, because you could be in a book, you just don't know it," Maloof said.

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