Reaction To The Second Wave
Once again the new wave of murders brought the city to a state of shock as people took the same precautions as they had when the first wave took place.
The city also took a beating economically as tourists stayed away. Streets were deserted at night even at North Beach, a neighborhood known to have a seven-nights-a-week nightlife.
Police decided to take drastic measures. Inspector Gus Coreris dictated generic suspect descriptions with the best known characteristics of the killers to SFPD sketch artist Hobart “Hoby" Nelson, who drew two sketches, based on them. The sketches were then distributed to the media and to SFPD officers, none of whom knew the sketches were generic.
In an unprecedented move, San Francisco Mayor Joseph Alioto and Police Chief Donald Scott announced that police officers would begin stopping and questioning "large numbers of black citizens" who resembled the description of the killer: a black man with a short Afro and a narrow chin. Once stopped, checked and cleared, each citizen received a specially printed Zebra Check card from the officer(s) that they could show to police if stopped again. Over 500 black men were stopped by the first weekend the program was in operation.
This action by the police provoked vocal and widespread criticism from the black community. Dr. Washington Garner, the first black member of the Police Commission, called for blacks to be understanding of the exceptional circumstances. The policy faced internal criticism, with the Officers For Justice group led by NOI associate Jesse Byrd viewing it as "racist and unproductive". Acting on a lawsuit sponsored by the NAACP and the ACLU, U.S. District Judge Alfonso J. Zirpoli ruled that the widespread profiling of blacks was unconstitutional, and the operation was suspended.
Read more about this topic: Zebra Murders
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