Former King County Executive: 'Because I was black, that's why they stopped me'

Former King County Executive Ron Sims said he has been stopped by the Seattle Police Department eight times because he is black. Sims said officers often questioned what he was doing in the Mount Baker neighborhood, which is where he lives.
 
"I don't want anybody, five years from now, to be treated like I was," said Sims, who decided to talk to KIRO-7 about the traffic stops to dispel the stereotype that this only happens to young black men who look as if they belong to a gang. His most recent traffic stop was earlier this year near Green Lake. He was going to get coffee.
 
"It is very demeaning to be stopped -- it really is -- on a racial profile. It is very demeaning, very demeaning," said an emotional Sims. "At the same time, I know a lot of good officers and I know they would stand between me and harm's way and I love them for it." 
 
Sims served as King County executive and went on to serve as the deputy secretary for the Department of Housing and Urban Development.  
 
He co-chaired the committee that helped select Seattle Police Chief Kathleen O'Toole. Sims is optimistic that she can change policing in this city.
 
"Chief O'Toole is going to have to weed the garden. I hate to say it that way. There are some officers who are never going to change and they gotta go. I think the department knows and their colleagues know who they are and somehow or another you have to say this isn't the place nor the city for you," said Sims.
 
Sims says it is time to listen. "That the expressions made by groups like Black Live Matter matter. You have people crying out loud, and publicly, about a sense that society is not just and it is not fair. We need to listen to them. We cannot discount those voices."

Cox Media Group