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Legislation and Litigation

Legislation

WASHINGTON

On March 24, 2002, the Legislature enacted a bill that requires the Washington State Police to collect data on each routine traffic stop, regardless of whether or not a citation is issued. It also ordered the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs to encourage local law enforcement agencies to voluntarily collect data, which four jurisdictions agreed to do. In February 2001, both the Senate and the House proposed legislation that would require local law enforcement agencies to collect data and address community concerns in regards to racial profiling. One of these bills was enacted on March 12, 2000, and requires law enforcement agencies to enact policies against racial profilingand provide additional training for officers.

S.B. 5852, 57th Leg., Reg. Sess. (2002), An Act Relating to Reporting on Issues Pertaining to Racial Profiling

Status: Enacted March 12, 2002 ; Effective June 13, 2002
number jurisdictions required to collect data

Restrictions: no data collection -- requires policy and additional training

Other Information: Companion bill to H. 2018. Declares racial profiling to be illegal. Would require local law enforcement agencies to institute a written policy condemning racial profiling, additional training to ensure that police do not practice racial profiling, and ensure that minority groups concerns regarding racial profiling are addressed.

Related Articles:

What's New:

Civil Rights Groups Launch Statewide Campaign to Combat Racial Profiling
American Civil Liberties Union
ACLU of Washington Bill Aim to Curb “Driving While Black or Brown”
American Civil Liberties Union

Contact Information:

Senator Rosa Franklin
309 Legislative Building, P.O. Box 40429
Olympia, WA 98504-0429
360-786-7656
fax: 360-786-7520
franklin_ro@leg.wa.gov

Senator Adam Kline
431 John A. Cherberg Building, P.O. Box 40437
Olympia, WA 98504-0437
360-786-7688
fax: 360-786-1999
kline_ad@leg.wa.gov

S.B. 5853, 57th Reg. Session, Wash. (2001), An Act Relating to Traffic Stop Racial Profiling

Status: Enacted March 05, 2001
all jurisdictions required to collect data

Scope of Collection: vehicle stops

Data Collection Dates: July, 2002

Data Collected: age, race, gender, ethnicity, number of passengers, reason for stop / alleged violation, action taken, warning given, citation given, arrest made, personal search conducted, search of vehicle conducted, type of search, contraband found, items seized for forfeiture

2000 Leg. Sess., Ch. 218, Washington Laws 2000 (E2SSB 6683), 1(2), codified in the 2000 Revised Code of Washington (RCW) 43.43.480. , Routine traffic enforcement information -- Report to the legislature.

Status: Enacted March 24, 2000 ; Effective March 24, 2000
1 jurisdictions required to collect data: State Patrol

Scope of Collection: vehicle stops

Data Collection Dates: May 01, 2000

Data Collected: age, race, gender, ethnicity, number of passengers, reason for stop / alleged violation, citation given, arrest made, personal search conducted, search of vehicle conducted, contraband found, items seized for forfeiture

Other Information: The State Patrol began to voluntarily collect data in October, 1999, then were mandated to do so by S.B. 6683. The State Patrol must report the information to the Criminal Justice Training Commission. The Commission was required to compile the information and issue a report to the Legislature by December 1, 2000. The legislation also encourages local jurisdictions to collect data, which four jurisdictions have begun to do.

Related Articles:

Journal Articles and Law Reviews:

Washington State Patrol Demographic Data Report for May 1, 2000 through October 31, 2000
Washington State Patrol and Criminal Justice Division

What's New:

Study: No Signs Of Widespread Racial Profiling By WSP
The Associated Press

Contact Information:

Washington State Patrol
Lieutenant Marc Lamoreaux
General Administration Building, PO Box 42600
Olympia, WA 98504-2600
360-570-3135
http://www.wsp.wa.gov

Criminal Justice Training Commission
19010 1st Avenue S.
Seattle, WA 98148
206-835-7300

H.B. 2018, 57th Leg., Reg. Sess. (2002), An Act Relating to Reporting on Issues Pertaining to Racial Profiling

Status: Pending
number jurisdictions required to collect data

Restrictions: no data collection -- requires policy and additional training

Other Information: Companion Bill to S. 5852. Declares racial profiling to be illegal. Would require local law enforcement agencies to institute a written policy condemning racial profiling, additional training to ensure that police do not practice racial profiling, and ensure that minority groups concerns regarding racial profiling are addressed.

Contact Information:

Representative Al O'Brien
PO Box 40600, 324 John L. O'Brien Bldg.
Olympia, WA 98504-0600
360-786-7928
obrien_al@leg.wa.gov

H.B. 2017, 57th Leg., Reg. Sess. (2001), An Act Relating to traffic-stop racial profiling

Status: Unenacted
all jurisdictions required to collect data

Scope of Collection: vehicle stops

Data Collected: age, race, gender, ethnicity, number of passengers, reason for stop / alleged violation, warning given, citation given, arrest made, personal search conducted, search of vehicle conducted, type of search, contraband found, items seized for forfeiture, authority for search

Other Information: Companion bill to S. 5853. Defines racial profiling, would require local law enforcement agencies to collect data on forms provided by the Criminal Justice Training Commission. The Commission would compile the information collected ďż˝in a manner that is of value in guiding legislative policies.ďż˝

Contact Information:

Senator Rosa Franklin
309 Legislative Building, P.O. Box 40429
Olympia, WA 98504-0429
360-786-7656
fax: 360-786-7520
franklin_ro@leg.wa.gov

Senator Adam Kline
431 John A. Cherberg Building, P.O. Box 40437
Olympia, WA 98504-0437
360-786-7688
fax: 360-786-1999
kline_ad@leg.wa.gov

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.