Fayetteville Police officers will receive training from the U.S. Justice Department about how to avoid racial profiling. That's according to city manager Dale Iman. He says he asked for help in response to concerns raised by local activist groups. Statistics from last year show police searched three times more black drivers than white ones in Fayetteville. The Justice Department says that trend holds across the country. Iman says he welcomes the training, in addition to training from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies.
"We have nothing to hide. We encourage a review of our protocols. For 23 years, we've been a CALEA accredited police department and every year we go through reviews of our protocols and procedures by CALEA."
Iman says Fayetteville's statistics might be a product of the police department's crime mapping. More officers patrol areas that experience more crime. Iman says many of the hot spots are in predominantly African-American neighborhoods.