A 2,208-name petition will land on city council's laps Monday morning, singed by outraged Calgarians demanding changes to how police deal with ethnic communities.

And although the petition was sparked by an incident involving a woman of Chinese descent stopped for a traffic violation, over a dozen more complaints involving the alleged mistreatment of ethnic minorities have since surfaced.

"The impressive results of the signature campaign, with over 2,200 signatures collected, speaks to the consolidation of the Chinese community in voicing their concern for their basic civil rights," said Daniel Lai, spokesman for the Canadian Chinese National Council.

"There is definitely a concern in the Chinese community in voicing their concern and such concern should not be downplayed . . . . It is just a tip of the iceberg that reveals a greater hidden concern of not just the Chinese but also other ethnic minority communities," noted Lai, a social work professor at the University of Calgary.

An official campaign has been launched by Anna Tang after she was stopped for a traffic violation last fall and allegedly pushed and handcuffed when she tried to argue the ticket. Tang was ticketed for failing to stop at a stop sign and failing to obey a police officer.

But since her incident became public, Lai says, over a dozen other complaints have come up involving a number of common themes, including inappropriate use of force, impatience and indifference to people unable to speak fluent English.

Those complaints also come on the heels of the Juan Melendez-Hernandez case in which a Salvadoran immigrant claimed he was beaten up by police. The tow officers accused will not face criminal charges, while Melendez-Hernandez will face charges of resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer in court this June.

Members of the Latin American Community Association are angered by the result and will attend Monday's council meeting at city hall in support of the Chinese petition.

"We believe there is collusion between the police and Crown prosecutor's office that gives anyone making allegations of police brutality an automatic conviction," says Don Wise, spokesman for LACA.

Ald. David Bronconnier says council will welcome the petition Monday, but as a matter of policy will refer it to the police commission where it will be discussed within the next two weeks.

"It's always disconcerting when you have a minority group put forward serious allegations, so it will have to go forward to police commission."

Ald. Diane Danielson, a member of the city's police commission, is confident the police are making a sincere effort in training themselves to better deal with minorities.

Burt she admits there is always "room for improvement" and hopes the police commission will be open to examining policies dealing with ethnic issues.

The petition asks the city to expedite investigations involving citizen complaints, strengthen education in civil rights and cultural diversity, improve ethnic officer recruitment, and create a joint public consultation with the city and police commission to hear concerns from ethnic minority groups.