Racial profiling by police in Lincolnshire Illinois

I have a recent encouter with the Lincolshire police to share with you.
I have sent this to many other organizations to make them aware of what's going on and possibly help others avoid similar treatment.

Racially profiled by Lincolshire police:
City of Lincolnshire Police department

It is Monday May 18th, 2009 and for me it’s the start of another work week at my office in Deerfield.
As I do most work days, I leave the office around 5:30, but on this day I leave more around 5:45 as I was finishing up a few tasks prior to leaving. When I left the office I got in my car, lowered all four windows on my Subaru WRX and opened the moon roof to get air as it was a nice warm, spring day and perfect to get some air flowing through the car as I drove. I drove out of the office complex and onto Riverwoods road heading north towards Lake Villa where I’ve lived since 1999. I’ve been working at this Deerfield facility since May of 2006. As I drive north on Riverwoods road, traffic is moving as slow as normal, but not too heavy as it often gets during Rainy, snowy, or heavy construction days. As I approach IL Rt 22 (Half Day Road), I noticed a police squad car is waiting at a traffic light about to merge onto Riverwoods road. I pass the light where they are waiting and when the light turns green for them, they merge northbound on Riverwoods a couple cars behind me. We get to the Rt 22 traffic light and I noticed the police car is now only one car behind me and as the light to cross Rt 22 turns green we proceed to move north at traffic speed and as I am aware of the police behind me, I keep an eye on the speed limit as I move through the residential area. I notice the car behind me has turned and now the police squad is right behind me, so we continue to move with traffic, observing the speed limit again. Within about a half mile north of Rt 22, the squad turns on the “Flashing lights”, so at I do any time I see lights, I move to the right and onto the side of the road, assuming they have been call to attend an emergency somewhere.
This time though, the police squad pulls up right behind me, but since I’ve been driving with care and along with traffic observing the law, I’m wondering why I was pulled over. Two officers get out of the car and approach me one on each side of my car. I am asked by the officer who approached me on the driver’s side to provide my license and proof of insurance. I give him my license and search my glove compartment for my insurance card, but before I find it, the officer says not to worry and proceeds to ask me if I have anything illegal in the car. I answer No sir and both officers proceed to move behind my car and talk for a bit, then they approach again and ask me to get out of the car and again ask if I have anything illegal in the car and I again answer “no sir”. I cooperate and step out of the car and one of them asked me to step back behind my car and in front of the squad car, while the other searches the inside of my car. I ask the officer nicely “Is this a routine stop” and he responds with just wait here sir and when the other officer comes back after searching my car with a foot long piece of copper cable I had under my seat, one of them asks “Is there anything illegal in the trunk of your car sir” and I again answer “no sir” and offer to open the trunk if they want to search it and at this time they say no.
They proceed to ask me about the piece of copper cable found under my seat: “Why is this in your car sir?” and I answer: I got it from one of my previous employers when we moved from the building I kept a piece as a souvenir. One of them says “What do you do with this sir?” and I answer: Nothing, it’s been under my seat for a while. They again ask “What do you use this for?” and I answer: Nothing sir, It’s just been there for a while and I forgot about it. Then one says “Do you what this can be used for?” I answer: “No, What?” and one of them answers: This can be used as a defense object and it’s illegal to carry this in your car. I answer: I didn’t know it was illegal or what it could be used for. One of them proceeds to explain to me that this is illegal and it is considered a “blunt device” and I’m not allowed to carry it. They also tell me that they saw some knives in my car and that it is legal to carry those, but this piece of cable is “illegal”. I tell them, if this cable is illegal, they can keep it. We go back and forth discussing this piece of cable and why I have it and my answer remains the same. “I got it a long time ago from my previous office building and kept it as a souvenir”. They also ask me where I work and I tell them, so they go check my badge which is in my car to verify. Then they ask where I live and I say Lake Villa. They ask how long I’ve lived in Lake Villa and I answer “Since 1999”. They finally lead me back to my car and ask me to wait on the driver’s seat. I see them behind my car talking again. They approach me again and ask me to open the trunk and I oblige, so they proceed to search my trunk. Nothing is found, so they approach my car again and the officer on the driver’s side tells me they will give me a citation for “tinted windows” and I ask I didn’t know it was illegal to tint the windows and they explain the limits. I tell them I had them tinted and they were supposed to meet regulations set at that time. They tell me no, that it’s illegal to tint the front windows with any tint grade. I ask if they know where I can verify this regulation and they can’t provide me with an answer other than, it’s the law and has been since the 80s they believe. I take their word for it and accept the citation ticket. One of them proceeds to tell me that the other officer does not mean to give me a hard time, but since my windows are violating the tint regulations, they must enforce the law. They give me the copies of the citation and explain my options and ask me to pull into back into traffic carefully. I proceed on my way home.

Personal Assessment of my situation:
I feel that I was profiled for some reason and that the intent was to find something illegal on me or my car with which they could charge me of a crime. The fact that they would not give me a valid reason for pulling me over and searching my car when I asked and that they kept asking if I had anything illegal leads me to believe I was being stereotyped and profiled. This violation of my rights is an atrocity and there is no need for these types of practices within our law enforcement agencies. I know this is not the first time they pull people over in Lincolnshire Illinois with the assumption that something illegal is being carried on and this should bring shame to the officials and the community for allowing this to happen.