By Eric Stock

BLOOMINGTON – A breakdown on pedestrian stops based on race doesn’t set Bloomington apart from most other cities in the U.S., but the Bloomington woman who compiled the report says the study should still serve as a call to action.

Julie Prandi, a retired Illinois Wesleyan professor, told WJBC’s Sam Wood she would like the see greater emphasis on community policing.

PODCAST: Listen to Sam’s interview with Prandi on WJBC.

“When they had problems and they know about crimes and they have tips and will feel good about going to police and giving those tips,” Prandi said. “That’s not my understanding of how policing is done in any neighborhood in the city.”

The report which covered the first six months of last year showed blacks were three-times more likely then whites to be stopped by police while a higher percentage of blacks were never arrested.

“I think it would be good for Bloomington Police to look at some other definitions of (community policing),” Prandi said. “Targeting specific neighborhoods like this isn’t necessarily the way to go.”

Police Chief Brendan Heffner has said those stops were concentrated in higher crime areas and were not based on race.

Eric Stock can be reached at [email protected].