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SB 1074 was enacted May 24, 2001 and became effective September 1, 2001. The act required all state and local law enforcement agencies to participate. The data collection program is divided into two phases. Under Phase I, all police agencies were required to enact policies that include data collection. Under Phase II, which requires more extensive data collection, agencies could be exempt from data collection if they applied for funding for video cameras in patrol cars. A number of jurisdictions began to collect more detailed data immediately, even though it was not mandated until January 1, 2003. All jurisdictions in Texas are now required to collect data.

S.B. 1074, 77th Leg., Reg. Sess. (Tex. 2001), An Act relating to the prevention of racial profiling by certain peace officers.

Status: Enacted June 14, 2001 ; Effective September 01, 2001
all jurisdictions required to collect data

Scope of Collection: all stops

Restrictions: exemption if the agency applies for funding to install video cameras

Data Collection Dates: January 01, 2003 through December 31, 2003

Data Collected: race, gender, ethnicity, reason for stop / alleged violation, location, arrest made, personal search conducted, search of vehicle conducted, type of search, contraband found, authority for search

Other Information: There are two phases in the data collection. Phase I of the data collection, which became effective on January 1, 2002, requires all law enforcement agencies in the state to adopt a policy which prohibits racial profiling, implements a complaint process, and collection of data on the race of the driver only when a citation is issued. This data is submitted to the local governing body of the municipality or county in an annual report. Phase II of the data collection is considerably more extensive and is scheduled to begin January 1, 2003. It includes data collection for both traffic and pedestrian stops whether or not a citation is issued. An agency is exempt from Phase II data collection, however, if the agency uses video cameras to record every stop or if the agency applies to the Department of Public Safety for funding for installation of video and audio equipment, whether the funding is granted or denied. Not later than March 1st each year each agency collecting data must submit a report containing the data collected and complaints of racial profiling to their local governing agency. The legislation also contains training requirements for new and existing police officers. Links of interest have been compiled by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement and are available here

Related Articles:

Journal Articles and Law Reviews:

San Antonio Racial Profiling Data Analysis Study
Lamberth Consulting
Racial Profiling Charges: How Should Texas Respond?
Kelly Dworaczyk
A Statistical Examination of Racial Profiling (in Texas)
Dwight Steward and M. Douglas Berg
Racial Profiling: Course Number 3256
Texas Commission on Law Enforcement
Frisco General Order on Biased Policing
Frisco Police Department

What's New:

Houston Joins Battle Against Racial Profiling
American Civil Liberties Union

Contact Information:

Texas Police Chiefs Association
P.O. Box 819
Elgin, TX 78621
877-776-5423
fax: 512-281-2240
texaspolicechiefs@prodigy.net
http://www.texaschiefs.com

Senator Royce West
P.O. Box 12068, Capitol Station
Austin, TX 78711
512-463-0123

Representative Senfronia Thompson
Room 3S.06, Capitol Building
Auston, TX 78711
512-463-0720

Bill Blackwood Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas (LEMIT)
P.O. Box 2296, Sam Houston State University
Huntsville, TX 77341-2296
936-294-4600
fax: 936-294-3926
http://www.shsu.edu/~lemit/

Texas Municipal League
14511 Falling Creek Dr. #310
Houston, TX
281-895-9655
http://www.tml.org

ANALYSIS OF RACIAL DISPARITIES IN THE NEW YORK CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT'S STOP, QUESTION, AND FRISK PRACTICES

RAND Corporation

In 2006, the New York City Police Department (NYPD) stopped a half-million pedestrians for suspected criminal involvement. Raw statistics for these encounters suggest large racial disparities — 89 percent of the stops involved nonwhites. Do these statistics point to racial bias in police officers’ decisions to stop particular pedestrians? Do they indicate that officers are particularly intrusive when stopping nonwhites? The NYPD asked the RAND Center on Quality Policing (CQP) to help it understand this issue and identify recommendations for addressing potential problems. CQP researchers analyzed data on all street encounters between NYPD officers and pedestrians in 2006. They compared the racial distribution of stops to external benchmarks, attempts to construct what the racial distribution of the stopped pedestrians would have been if officers’ stop decisions had been racially unbiased. Then they compared each officer’s stopping patterns with an internal benchmark constructed from stops in similar circumstances made by other officers. Finally, they examined stop outcomes, assessing whether stopped white and nonwhite suspects have different rates of frisk, search, use of force, and arrest. They found small racial differences in these rates and make communication, recordkeeping, and training recommendations to the NYPD for improving police-pedestrian interactions.

FLORIDA: JACKSONVILLE POLICE RECEIVE NO RACIAL PROFILING COMPLAINTS IN ’08

The Jacksonville Police Department presented its annual Racial Profiling Report which covers Calendar Year 2008 and showed that JPD received no formal reports of racial profiling. It also confirmed that local police are conducting traffic stops using legal criteria and not race as their motivation for enforcement action. Currently, the Texas Racial Profiling Law requires that police departments collect data pertaining to traffic stops, pedestrian stops, searches conducted and citations issued.

TEXAS: BELLAIRE MAYOR TO INVESTIGATE RACIAL PROFILING ALLEGATIONS

The mayor of Bellaire responded publicly for the first time to allegations of racial profiling due to an incident of mistaken identity. Officers will now be required to participate in additional cultural sensitivity training. The city is also hiring an independent state consultant to analyze traffic stop data for 2008 and look for incidents of racial profiling. The mayor also promised to release the results of the district attorney's investigation publicly, once it is completed.

CALIFORNIA: TORRANCE POLICE PROFILING SUIT IS DEFEATED

A woman who claimed she was wrongly arrested by Torrance police because of her race has lost her federal lawsuit against the city, a former chief and two officers. Sara Plowden, who lived in Gardena when she filed the civil rights lawsuit in January 2006, claimed she was subjected to a "driving while black" arrest early on Nov. 23, 2003. She claimed the officers physically accosted her and that city officials and former Police Chief James Herren allowed "an atmosphere of lawlessness, abuse and misconduct" to fester in the department.

ARKANSAS: ARIZONA DPS TIGHTENS SEARCH RULES TO AVOID PROFILING

The Arizona Department of Public Safety, in moves intended to prevent and detect racial profiling, is making internal changes that include requiring Highway Patrol officers to document why they search vehicles they stop. Other changes announced by Gov. Janet Napolitano's office include requiring officers to obtain a motorist's consent for a search to get the driver's signature or to use video or audio to record the driver giving permission verbally.

UTAH: UTAH HIGHWAY PATROL OFFICER ACCUSED OF RACIAL PROFILING

Sherida Felders, a black grandmother, alleges a Utah Highway Patrol officer had no reason to believe her Jeep Commander contained illegal substances, but called in a drug-sniffing dog after stopping her for speeding Felders has filed a suit accusing the trooper of conducting an illegal search of her vehicle for drugs based on racial profiling.