Hoping to prevent mistreatment of minorities by police, Davenport is working with several community groups on a study of racial profiling. Today the city signed an agreement with them, formalizing an effort that began two years ago.
Pastor Rogers Kirk, from the Third Missionary Baptist Church, says after receiving what he calls a "flood" of complaints, he and others asked the police department to investigate. And chief Frank Donchez worked with them on a study of traffic stops.
The agreement signed today is between Davenport and its civil rights commission, the NAACP, League of United Latin American Citizens, Quad Cities Interfaith, and Churches United. A professor and some graduate students at Saint Ambrose University are now studying traffic stop data from the past two years, and should have preliminary findings in July.