By: Diane Benjamin

h/t a reader who obtained the below from a person who filed a FOIA BEFORE Ty Carlton filed a lawsuit.

When I filed a FOIA for it I didn’t get it.

Review the Carlton case if you forgot: https://blnnews.com/2026/08/13/remember-ty-carlton/

Defendants in this case are:

City of Bloomington

Chief Simington

Chad Wamsley – just left the force after 25 years

Paul Williams – retired after he was put on Administrative leave after an incident with 2 blacks in a vehicle

The courts will decide the Carlton and Williams cases.

If you look at the actual lawsuit Ty Carlton filed, he disagreed with orders from Simington to “balance” traffic tickets better by race.

WGLT did this story later the same month saying the ACLU was still not happy with the race disparities in traffic stops: https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2023-09-08/bloomington-police-reduce-racial-disparities-in-traffic-stops-aclu-says-the-data-is-still-unacceptable

Note the email below was written by Paul Williams. Does anyone believe the Police Chief didn’t know he wrote it? This is a quote from the Carlton lawsuit:

Ty Carlton was fired in January of 2024.

Now read the email. The only way to “balance” traffic stops is to either quit stopping “people of color” or start stopping more white people. Both are discrimination and illegal under federal law. Was Paul Williams guilty of racial profiling when he tried to detain a black driver? A court will decide that one, weird though after he wrote the email below telling Lieutenants to “balance”. The allegations are that he didn’t practice what he ordered.

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Williams states “bad driving” is the biggest complaint they hear. He wrote that in 2023. Nothing has changed in 2026. Are officers afraid to stop anyone now? How about stopping every erratic driver? The problem should fix itself by the end of October. Race is immaterial to bad driving, they come in all colors.

Veterans Parkway isn’t the problem requiring narrower and fewer lanes. The stupid drivers on it are the problem. The ACLU should be ignored or invited for ride alongs. Statistics can be manipulated to say whatever the goal is.

The buck stops at the top – Chief Simington. I lost all respect for him when he took officers to the Holocaust Museum in Skokie for training. From the comments made by officers who attended, many of them did too: https://blnnews.com/2023/02/20/bloomington-un-redacted-some-from-foia/

Objecting to racial profiling is why a decorated officer was fired. Simington should be told to move along, no going away party necessary.

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