PORTLAND, Maine (AP) A federal judge has ruled that evidence seized by police officers during a traffic stop that touched off a debate about racial profiling in Maine must be suppressed.
The case concerns Trooper John Darcy, who was recorded talking to another trooper on a cruiser microphone just before stopping a Black motorist driving through York in August 2019. Darcy said the man looked like a thug and cited his dreadlocks and shirt, but also stated he was not racially profiling the driver.
Police seized about 140 grams of cocaine, 880 counterfeit prescription pills and a loaded firearm during the stop. But the judge ruled Monday that the initial stop was unconstitutional, and that the evidence collected will be suppressed.
The state police chief conducted an investigation of more than 1,000 traffic stops after the initial stop and found no pattern of racial profiling by Darcy.
The case “is just one example of the racial profiling that is pervasive in Maine and across the country,” ACLU of Maine legal director Emma Bond said Tuesday. She also said it’s an example of how police making stops based on “gut feelings” can result in racial profiling.
