WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND.

Seattle Times reporters Alex Tizon and Reid For grave recently produced some strong reporting on a serious national problem that is ignored in many cities. Following is a condensed version of their story "Wary of Racism Complaints, Police Look the Other Way in Black Neighborhoods."

SEATTLE--The cops on the street have different names for it: de-policing, selective disengagement, tactical detachment. Whatever the term, rank-and-file officers in the Seattle Police Department say it is a spreading phenomenon in the city's black neighborhoods, and a logical reaction to chronic charges of police racism. De-policing is passive law enforcement: Officers consciously stop trying to prevent low-level crime, simply reacting to 911 calls. Many officers, wary of being labeled racists or racial profilers, say they hold back or bypass opportunities to make traffic stops or arrest black suspects.

Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske acknowledged that "some officers are being particularly cautious" in black neighborhoods because of the uproar over the police shooting death of 37-year-old Aaron Roberts on May 31. But Kerlikowske said he has seen no evidence that the trend has reached crisis proportions.

Roberts was shot dead by Officer Craig Price after allegedly dragging Price's partner, Greg Neubert, with his car. It was found later that Roberts was wanted for escaping a work-release program. Price and Neubert are both white. Captain Nick Metz, commander of the East Precinct and an African American, defended his officers, saying that the shooting was not racially motivated. It was the latest in a string of incidents that have put police at odds with some in the black community.

In April of last year, David John Walker, an African-American man with a history of mental illness, was shot dead by a white police officer near Seattle Center; Walker had shoplifted at a Queen Anne grocery, fired two shots, and skipped down the sidewalk waving a knife. In January 1996, a police officer accidentally shot and killed Edward Anderson, an unarmed black man, after a chase. Of the 31 people killed by Seattle police in the past two decades, nearly one-third were black. Community protests have intensified With each shooting.

Some officers say de-policing in black communities has increased as protests have increased. "It's real. It's happening," said Eric Michl, a Seattle patrol officer for 17 years. "Parking under a shady tree to work on a crossword puzzle is a great alternative to being labeled a racist and being dragged through an inquest, a review board, an FBI and U.S. Attorney's investigation, and a lawsuit."

Michl and other officers say they now question whether certain stops are worth the potential consequences. He described an incident one Friday night: A car turned left into oncoming traffic in the Crown Hill neighborhood, nearly causing an accident, then sped away. Michl said he stopped the car; the driver was a black man who acted very nervous and showed signs of being high on cocaine. The man carried no identification and no car registration, and he couldn't remember his birth date.