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Planning, Training, and Implementation

Training Materials

Effective training is an essential part of implementing data collection systems. Initially, officers conducting stops need training on how to record the data being collected, given the jurisdiction's specific technology capacities (whether hand-held devices, CAD machines, paper data collection forms, etc.). If there are officers receiving data from CAD machines or other technology, they need training on how to receive and report the data. After this initial training, there are other types of training into which aspects of racial profiling data collection can be incorporated. Following are examples of how training can be used:

Initial Training

Initial training should be designed to introduce officers to the jurisdiction's data collection process. Some jurisdictions focus on the details of their program, while others take a much more general approach, informing officers of the purposes behind the program and related criminal and search and seizure law.

Those who concentrate on the nuts and bolts of the new process generally include issues such as the purpose of the program, data collection protocol, how the data will be analyzed, and how the program will affect individual officers and units. Training sessions can also describe the department's racial profiling policy in detail and explain the implications of various aspects of that policy. If the department is collecting data based on state legislation, training can include important provisions of that legislation. Sometimes, training sessions highlight the nature and extent of community perceptions of racial profiling or even the history of racial profiling controversy.

More general training curricula can also include overviews of current criminal procedure and search and seizure law. This provides officers with knowledge about the law so they can recognize the role of constitutional principles in potential traffic stop situations. Training programs might also discuss how data collection can help protect the officers from civilian complaints or threats of litigation. In addition, many training curricula include information on the avenues through which officers should report and respond to complaints.

Integration into Ongoing Training

Departments should also try to integrate data collection and racial profiling training into their ongoing training programs. This offers the possibility of updating officers on changes in the data collection policies and procedures as well as changes in the law. In addition, there should be some way for officers to voice concerns and difficulties with the procedures. By integrating data collection issues in more ongoing training, departments can begin to help officers understand its role in making law enforcement work more effective in general.

Diversity Awareness Training

Since racial profiling can arise from misunderstandings or stereotypes about racial and ethnic groups, encouraging officers to learn about and understand diversity issues can help address the issue of racial profiling at its roots. Because of the ever-changing demographics in the United States, officers need to be aware of cultural differences to be most effective in police work. This is especially true when there are tensions between communities of color and the police department. Although diversity awareness training on its own will not solve the issue of racial profiling, it can help officers recognize the value of diversity and learn how to better use the diversity of the communities in which they serve.

Professional Traffic Stops

Another way to integrate data collection into ongoing training is to include procedures for data collection while training officers in guidelines for conducting professional traffic stops, including information on what constitutes legal probable cause for detaining citizens. In addition, merely implementing consistent policies on officer interaction with citizens in traffic stop situations can help reduce community perceptions of racial profiling. Again, much of the content included in this training will be based on the individual jurisdiction's policies.

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.