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Arizona: Racial Profiling By Police Must Be Stopped, Panel Says. Daniel GonzÃ¡lez. The Arizona Republic, March 07, 2008.
A civil-rights panel will recommend that Arizona police agencies take more steps to combat racial profiling after community leaders raised concerns. The recommendations could include better police training, mandatory data collection by police agencies to help detect patterns of racial profiling, and the creation of an independent citizen commission to investigate racial-profiling complaints.
Missouri: Racial Profiling Report Release. Nick Guillory. KBIA, March 07, 2008.
The Annual Racial Profiling Report of 2007 shows African Americans are more likely to get searched after being pulled over in Columbia. The state mandated the report in 2000 as a nationwide effort to provide transparency in police departments.
Kansas: Senate Considers Racial Profiling Bill. KSN.Com, March 06, 2008.
In Topeka, Kansas a new bill could mean a difference in policing practices. The bill would make it illegal for law enforcement to use race as the sole factor in selecting which individuals are subject to routine investigatory activities. It would also create a task force on racial profiling. The bill would require law enforcement agencies to submit annual reports, and mandate two hours of racial profile training for officers. The Senate committee has yet to vote to advance the bill.
West Virginia: Racial Profiling State Problem?. Bill Byrd. The Times West Virginia, February 24, 2008.
An ongoing study of whether racial profiling by police is a problem in West Virginia shows that black drivers across the state last year were 1 1/2 times more likely to be stopped than whites.Black drivers statewide were also twice as likely as white drivers to have their cars searched in those same traffic stops, the just-released report states.
The figures come from a statistical analysis of reports over a six-month period from nearly all law enforcement agencies in the state. The Statistical Analysis Center of the state Division of Criminal Justice Services is doing the study in response to a 2006 law. The study will continue this year, with a final report expected in 2009.
California: HRC: Police 'Profiling' Data Still Needed. Becky Trout. Palo Alto Online, January 24, 2008.
The Human Relations Commission decided that Palo Alto police officers should continue collecting racial and gender data about individual traffic stops however only one, not two, reports per year should be generated. The change, which the commission suggested for a one-year trial period, should save the department about 200 hours a year.

This is a list of past news items about racial profiling and data collection.

Arizona: Racial Profiling By Police Must Be Stopped, Panel Says. Daniel GonzÃ¡lez. The Arizona Republic, March 07, 2008.
A civil-rights panel will recommend that Arizona police agencies take more steps to combat racial profiling after community leaders raised concerns. The recommendations could include better police training, mandatory data collection by police agencies to help detect patterns of racial profiling, and the creation of an independent citizen commission to investigate racial-profiling complaints.
Louisiana: Time For Change Is Now, Legislators & Civil Rights Leaders Say. Alison Bath. The Shreveport Times, January 21, 2008.
State legislators and civil rights leaders say that addressing issues of racial profiling must take a more active approach. Passing laws and regulations is the first step, however in order for racial profiling to diminish; community members must share a sense of history about one’s interactions with law enforcement. Civil rights leaders and legislators are calling on local law enforcement to apply a series of steps which will focus on diversity training.
Louisiana: Day 1: Racial Profiling? Traffic Citations Database Shows Blacks Cited More Often For Traffic Offenses. Alison Bath. The Shreveport Times, January 20, 2008.
An investigation led by a local newspaper showed that in Shreveport & Bossier City black drivers are cited for traffic violations more than twice as likely as often as whites. Blacks are also disproportionately represented in the numbers of citations for lower-level violations such as window tint or loud music. These violations are used as “gateway” reasons for stopping a driver. The study focused on 228,810 traffic citations issued in both Shreveport & Bossier City from January 2003 to October 2007.
Police Plan To Contest Racial Profiling Ruling. The Star, January 18, 2008.
The Quebec Human Commission has found in favor of four Montreal teens who claimed they were victims of racial profiling by the Montreal police. The commission recommended that the city put measures in place to put an end to racial profiling. The commission also ordered the city to pay $47,000 in damages plus interest to the four teens and their families. Each incident took place during August 2003.
California: L.A. County To Probe Campus Drug Search. Jean-Paul Renaud. Los Angeles Times, January 09, 2008.
Los Angeles police offices detained 32 African American students and 1 Latino student after investigating drug activity at Los Angeles Trade Tech College. The incident has fueled allegations of racial profiling from many civil rights groups. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors launched an investigation into how the Sheriff’s Department conducted this particular narcotics-search operation. Marshall "Mark" Drummond, chancellor of the Los Angeles Community College District, believes this is a true representation of racial profiling in action.
Mississippi: Moss Point Residents Claim Racial Profiling. Amber Craig. The Mississippi Press, January 04, 2008.
Representatives from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the American Civil Liberties Union held a town hall meeting in order for residents to discuss concerns about what they claimed was unfair treatment and racial profiling by law enforcement officers in the execution of several drug busts last year in Jackson County. ACLU organizer Brent Cox said it was evident just by looking at the audience that law enforcement has not been conducting raids in white neighborhoods as often as black ones.

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.

ARIZONA: RACIAL PROFILING BY POLICE MUST BE STOPPED, PANEL SAYS

A civil-rights panel will recommend that Arizona police agencies take more steps to combat racial profiling after community leaders raised concerns. The recommendations could include better police training, mandatory data collection by police agencies to help detect patterns of racial profiling, and the creation of an independent citizen commission to investigate racial-profiling complaints.

MISSOURI: RACIAL PROFILING REPORT RELEASE

The Annual Racial Profiling Report of 2007 shows African Americans are more likely to get searched after being pulled over in Columbia. The state mandated the report in 2000 as a nationwide effort to provide transparency in police departments.

KANSAS: SENATE CONSIDERS RACIAL PROFILING BILL

In Topeka, Kansas a new bill could mean a difference in policing practices. The bill would make it illegal for law enforcement to use race as the sole factor in selecting which individuals are subject to routine investigatory activities. It would also create a task force on racial profiling. The bill would require law enforcement agencies to submit annual reports, and mandate two hours of racial profile training for officers. The Senate committee has yet to vote to advance the bill.

WEST VIRGINIA: RACIAL PROFILING STATE PROBLEM?

An ongoing study of whether racial profiling by police is a problem in West Virginia shows that black drivers across the state last year were 1 1/2 times more likely to be stopped than whites.Black drivers statewide were also twice as likely as white drivers to have their cars searched in those same traffic stops, the just-released report states.
The figures come from a statistical analysis of reports over a six-month period from nearly all law enforcement agencies in the state. The Statistical Analysis Center of the state Division of Criminal Justice Services is doing the study in response to a 2006 law. The study will continue this year, with a final report expected in 2009.

CALIFORNIA: HRC: POLICE 'PROFILING' DATA STILL NEEDED

The Human Relations Commission decided that Palo Alto police officers should continue collecting racial and gender data about individual traffic stops however only one, not two, reports per year should be generated. The change, which the commission suggested for a one-year trial period, should save the department about 200 hours a year.