A woman's suggestion last month that shovelers she hired to work on her sidewalk were racially profiled and the subsequent response from police prompted a town meeting in Lower Merion Township.
The NAACP organized the meeting, described as an "open conversation about race and policing in Lower Merion," which took place Sunday from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the P.A.L.M. Center in Ardmore, Pennsylvania. Both residents and police discussed the issue of racial profiling. Some African American residents who attended said they felt they were targeted by police because of their race, claiming they were detained and arrested at a much higher rate than white residents in Lower Merion.
"They come, the police officers, from both sides," said Harry Mobley, a black Lower Merion resident who attended the meeting. "I'm up against the wall. [[I ask]] What's going on officer? [[The officer says]] Put your hands up against the gate! Guns drawn! How many white people here have had a gun drawn on them? How many?"
Lower Merion Police Superintendent Michael McGrath attended the meeting, telling NBC10 the police force is listening to the concerns of the community and that they want to have an honest discussion. He also said however he does not believe black residents in the town are treated any differently than white residents.
"They can believe whatever they choose to believe based on their experience," McGrath said. "I know the way we do policing and I don't believe that. When we are wrong we'll let you know we're wrong. But when we're right, we're also gong to say we're right."
Despite the differing viewpoints, both police and residents said they felt a good conversation has started on race in the community and they hope to work together to solve the issues.
The controversy began when Deborah Saldana of Penn Wynne, Pa., first shared her story Jan. 27 in the Facebook group Lower Merion Community Network.
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Saldana wrote that two African American shovelers she hired to work on her sidewalk were stopped by police officers who ran background checks on them as they sat outside in the cold.
Saldana said her father went to check to see what was going on and was told by the officers they were conducting an investigation. The shovelers then went back to work after 20 minutes, according to Saldana.
“The cops came to the door to tell my father that from now on, 'anyone' shoveling in Lower Merion, except if it’s your own property, needs a permit from the township, a $50 permit that has to be valid if they check,” Saldana wrote. “We paid the kids and they were okay, a little shaken up. I wonder if the same would have happened it if was white kids shoveling?”
Saldana also told NBC10 she didn’t buy the officers’ explanation.
“I think it was profiling,” she said. “I hate to say it. I know we live in a really heated climate right now. I would like to think it was the permit. I think it was just a superficial excuse.”
McGrath told NBC10 there were no reports of any teens being stopped and denied that the shovelers were racially profiled. He also said that based on their investigation, officers made two stops at Surrey Lane and Overbrook Parkway in Penn Wynne at 11 a.m. and 2:40 p.m. for canvassing and soliciting. The individuals who were stopped were all men, ages 40, 40, and 34 in the first case and 34 and 18 in the second case, according to McGrath.
McGrath released a more detailed response Wednesday night. In the statement, McGrath wrote that he was able to contact Saldana via phone on Jan. 29.
"It was learned that the resident had driven past the first stop and watched the second stop from her residence, and believed all the males were in their early teens," McGrath wrote. "During the course of our conversation, we informed her that the individuals she observed were in their 30’s and 40’s except for the one 18 year old, and that our department does not stop juveniles for shoveling snow, raking leaves or any other similar activity."
McGrath also said he informed Saldana that the canvassing and soliciting code was established several years ago in the town at the "request of residents who felt uncomfortable and did not want strangers knocking at their doors." McGrath also released data on canvassing and soliciting complaints in the town in 2013 and 2014.
READ MCGRATH'S FULL STATEMENT HERE
In his report, McGrath stated the men who were stopped in the first incident on Surrey Lane were never handcuffed and allowed to standup on the sidewalk. McGrath also said the incident lasted for 20 minutes and ended with the men and the officers shaking hands. During the second incident on Overbrook Parkway the men were asked to sit after a "possible arrest warrant was discovered" for the 34-year-old man, according to McGrath.
"The two males remained seated for eight (8) minutes until it was determined that the subject did not fit the description of the wanted person," McGrath wrote.
McGrath said the men were then allowed to finish their work and a citation was not issued.
"Upon a thorough and comprehensive review of these incidents it is clear that the officer acted in a respectful, professional and appropriate manner during his interaction with these citizens," McGrath wrote. "The tactics utilized and the professional manner in which the officer conducted the investigations conformed to all policies and training of this department."
Saldana told NBC10 last month she didn't know for sure whether the shovelers she hired were teenagers, even though she believed they were. Despite this, she also didn't believe their age was the real issue.
"I've never seen any white kids stopped for their permit regardless of age," she said. "I still have to wonder. I don't jump to conclusions. I don't pass judgments very quickly. But it was just my gut instinct, because you never see anybody else stopped. So that's kind of the logical deduction."
