By Iliana Limon
Tribune Reporter

A group representing an Iraqi national who alleged he was the victim of racial profiling vowed to file a lawsuit against the city.

Tasha Banat, a representative of an Arab-American antidiscrimination group, said the group was disappointed by the city's action in the case.

The Police Oversight Commission ruled Thursday evening that an Albuquerque Police Department sergeant did not unfairly target Saadoun Hussein, an Iraqi national, during a March traffic stop.

The decision overturned a ruling by Independent Review Officer Jay Rowland, who said the sergeant overstepped his bounds by calling the FBI when he was suspicious of Hussein.

Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White appealed Rowland's ruling on behalf of all law enforcement officers, arguing the sergeant's actions were justified.

"I believe that if they ruled that this was a case of racial profiling, it would have posed a serious threat to national security," he said.

Banat, who spoke on Hussein's behalf Thursday, said she was disappointed but not surprised by the board's 6-1 ruling.

"Once they brought Sept. 11 into the argument, we knew it would be very difficult to win this appeal," she said. "It's thrown around like a blanket statement to cover any kind of profiling."

She said her group would appeal the decision.

Commission rulings can be appealed to Mayor Martin Chavez and the City Council, but Banat said the group would seek the American Civil Liberties Union's support in filing a lawsuit against the police department and the city.

"That's the beauty of living in this country - if you feel your rights are violated and you lose appeals like this, you sue," she said. "We will definitely appeal this decision because we know Saadoun's rights were so clearly violated."

The contentious appeal of Rowland's ruling spanned two oversight commission meetings.

Chief Gilbert Gallegos supported the sergeant's actions.

He told the commission he was concerned that he didn't have a chance to review the case before Rowland's ruling was released to the public and White appealed the decision.

All sides testifying before the board agreed the initial traffic stop was within the sergeant's rights but Hussein's representatives and Rowland questioned a subsequent call to the FBI.

Police reports and commission testimony recounted the following details in the case:

Hussein passed the sergeant's patrol car three times. The driver and two passengers stared in the sergeant's direction each time they passed his car, making him suspicious.

When looking through his rearview mirror, the sergeant could not read Hussein's temporary license plate, and decided to stop Hussein.

Hussein spoke limited English, so the sergeant attempted to communicate in Spanish.

The sergeant took Hussein's personal information and ran a National Crime Information Center background check on him, a routine search performed daily by officers.

The racial profiling debate centers on his next move, a phone call from his patrol car to the Albuquerque FBI field office to see if he should take any other action against Hussein.

He was instructed to pass along Hussein's personal information and allow him to go if the background check did not show outstanding warrants.

Hussein was released, but the following day FBI agents learned he had given the sergeant an incorrect address.

Albuquerque police issued an "attempt to locate" order for Hussein, who was detained the following day when his car was spotted by another officer.

He was detained and briefly questioned by FBI agents, who told officers Hussein was possibly connected to an Iraqi militant group and was a possible terrorist suspect.

Hussein, whose English skills remain limited after 19 months living in the United States, said the sergeant asked him during the traffic stop why his last name was Hussein.

Banat argued the phone call to the FBI was unnecessary and amounted to racial profiling.

"If his last name wasn't Hussein and he wasn't from Iraq, the phone call never would have been made," she said. "And if that's not racial profiling, I don't know what is."

Rowland agreed, but admitted after listening to Gallegos' testimony that his ruling might have changed if the sergeant had provided as complete an interview with him as he did with Gallegos.

"All we were told was that he was suspicious because of his last name and Arab background," Rowland said.

White and a representative from the FBI field office told the commission the officer was justified in making the phone call.

"He wanted to make sure he was doing everything right," White said. "Officers make the same call to check on anyone of any background thousands of times a day. In fact, we're encouraged by the FBI to keep making those calls.

"Our biggest lesson from Sept. 11 was that we had to bridge gaps in communication. The tragedy could have been avoided if more agencies had followed through and shared information."

Commissioners told the small crowd at the meeting that it was a challenging decision and hoped Rowland's investigation would be a learning experience for the department.

Vidalia Chavez-Encinas, the newest member of the commission, cast the only vote favoring Rowland's ruling.

"I thought it was pretty clear that he was being singled out because of his background and that he was unfairly targeted," she said.

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