In a town where almost 40% of the police force has been accused of racial profiling, Hispanic residents have given up on East Haven, Connecticut, and are moving out.

 

Both the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice’s civil rights division are investigating East Haven police who have allegedly gone out of their way to hassle Hispanic motorists and business owners.

 

Twenty police officers—out of a total force just over 50—have been named in a racial profiling lawsuit.

 

Santiago Malave, a longtime Connecticut resident, probation officer and Puerto Rican, has decided to sell his house because of harassment from local police.

 

Luis Rodriguez, an immigrant from Ecuador who owns the Los Amigos Grocery, was arrested and spent five days in jail for leaving his 3-year-old son unsupervised on the sidewalk outside his business. Rodriguez claimed the police were retaliating for his wife’s habit of videotaping officers as they stopped Hispanics around town.

 

East Haven, a predominantly Italian-American city of 28,000 people, has seen its Hispanic population grow to 7% in recent years as immigrants from Latin America settled in the community.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

Citing Police Abuse, Hispanics Leaving Conn. Town (by Michael Melia, Associated Press)

East Haven Police Subpoenaed by FBI Wednesday Morning (by Sharon Bass, East Haven Patch)

You've Got Mail: Town Sends 'Reservation of Rights' Letters to Police Named in Lawsuit (by Sharon Bass, East Haven Patch)