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Spotlight

The following are past spotlights on various aspects of the data collection process.

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• Protecting Civil Rights: A Leadership Guide for State, Local, and Tribal Law Enforcement by the International Association of Chiefs of Police. October 01, 2006.
  
  In September of 2006, the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) released their report, “Protecting Civil Rights: A Leadership Guide for State, Local, and Tribal Law Enforcement” which deals with many aspects of promoting the respect of civilian’s civil liberties by law enforcement officials. The report originated from discussions between IACP and the U.S. Department of Justice- particularly the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services and the Special Litigation Section (SLS) of the Civil Rights Division.
  
  Of special interest in this report is chapter 6 entitled, “Addressing Racial Profiling: Creating a Comprehensive Commitment to Bias-Free Policing”. The chapter discusses current definitions and perceptions of racial profiling, the points the law enforcement agencies should focus on relative to racial profiling, and the issues surrounding the collection and analysis of racial profiling data and how agencies should make the decision whether or not to collect such data.
  
  The IACP makes five recommendations for all law enforcement agencies in regard to racial profiling
  • To design policies prohibiting the practice of racial profiling
  • To implement a training program based on the department’s policies
  • To make sure that all officers are held accountable
  • To communicate with the community and,
  • To consistently continue these efforts.
  
  
  
• Federal: Bureau of Justice Statistics Releases Traffic Stop Report. Erica L. Smith and Matthew R. Durose. (2006). Characteristics of Drivers Stopped by Police, 2002. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics., June 01, 2006.
  
  The United States Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics recently released a special report entitled, “Characteristics of Drivers Stopped by the Police, 2002.” The publication utilizes data from the 2002 Police-Public Contact Survey, a National Crime Victimization Survey supplement, in order to provide demographic characteristics about the United States driving population, in addition to information about circumstances surrounding police traffic stops nationally. The report also presents statistical information regarding a number of different types of traffic stop outcomes, such as personal and vehicle searches, citations written, driver arrests, and police use of force.

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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.