David A. Harris, an Expert in Racial Profiling, to Lecture on Preventive Policing at Pitt March 21

PITTSBURGH—David A. Harris, Balk Professor of Law and Values at the University of Toledo College of Law, will discuss his new book, Good Cops (The New Press, 2005), a case for "preventive policing," in a lecture at 4 p.m. March 21 in the University of Pittsburgh Teplitz Memorial Courtroom in the Barco Law Building, 3900 Forbes Ave., Oakland.

Pitt's School of Law and Center on Race and Social Problems are sponsoring the event, which is free and open to the public. Copies of Harris' book will be available for purchase.

A visiting professor in Pitt's School of Law last term, Harris has studied and observed the Pittsburgh Police Bureau and the Citizens Review Board. This provided a cornerstone for his book, which shows that good policing does not have to happen at the expense of civil liberties. His talk will be followed by comments from Pittsburgh Police Chief Robert McNeilly.

"The Pittsburgh Police Bureau, the Citizens Review Board, and the people of Pittsburgh were all very open with me about the state of law enforcement in their city," Harris said. "There are some things the police bureau is doing in Pittsburgh right now that put them at the forefront of law enforcement nationally. There is also still some dissatisfaction. That's what made the city such a compelling example."

A former senior justice fellow at the Open Society Institute in New York, Harris spent five years talking to police—from patrol officers to sergeants to captains to chiefs—observing them on the street, riding in their patrol cars, and listening to their stories. Good Cops reveals that police departments nationwide are embracing a new approach to law enforcement that Harris describes as "preventive policing," which helps to build bridges between police officers and the citizens they serve.

Author of Profiles in Injustice (The New Press, 2002), Harris is recognized as a leading authority on racial profiling. He is a frequent speaker on topics of criminal justice, national security, civil liberties, and racial profiling for national organizations,

including the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the National Conference of State Legislatures, the National Urban League, the NAACP, the ACLU, the American Bar Association, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the National Research Council.

Harris has appeared on NBC's The Today Show and Dateline, PBS's The News Hour with Jim Lehrer, C-SPAN's Washington Journal, and National Public Radio's Morning Edition and All Things Considered, among others. An expert on criminal and constitutional law issues, he has been quoted by and published in numerous publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Time, and U.S. News & World Report.

Harris graduated from Northwestern University and received the J.D. from Yale Law School and the LL.M. in trial advocacy from Georgetown Law School.

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3/10/05/tmw