Information Suppression at the Justice Department

BrooklynDodger wonders whether this report was peer reviewed, like everything possibly supporting public health and safety.

Official in Racial Profiling Study Demoted
Justice Department Denies Political Pressure; Lawmaker Demands Investigation
By Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff WriterThursday, August 25, 2005; Page A07
The ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee called for a congressional investigation yesterday into allegations that a Justice Department official is being demoted after attempting to publicize findings that police treated Hispanic and black drivers more aggressively than whites during traffic stops.
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Conyers's demand came after a report in the New York Times focusing on Lawrence A. Greenfeld, who heads the Bureau of Justice Statistics, a small office staffed primarily with statisticians who conduct studies and issue reports on law enforcement issues.
Quoting unidentified officials and documents, the report said Greenfeld was ordered to delete references to racial disparities in a news release prepared to announce a study on the treatment of different ethnic groups during police traffic stops.
The survey of 80,000 people, which was eventually issued in April without a news release, found that minority drivers were three times as likely to have their vehicles searched during traffic stops as white drivers.
Greenfeld fought the order and was eventually called to the White House and urged to resign six months before he was eligible for full pension benefits, but Greenfeld invoked personnel rules to force an agreement to place him in a different job, the Times said. Greenfeld did not return a telephone message left yesterday.