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In 1999, then-President Clinton ordered the law enforcement agencies of the Justice, Treasury, and Interior departments to collect data on the race, gender, and ethnicity of the people they stopped or arrested. The current president, George W. Bush, has said publicly that he supports legislation to ban racial profiling. However, rather than pushing forward any federal measures, he has indicated that he will leave the matter for the states to decide. So far, eleven states have enacted legislation to address racial profiling. Here is a summary of their laws: California and Oklahoma These states outlaw racial profiling, but do not require law enforcement agencies to record the race of those drivers stopped on the road. (California Governor Gray Davis, however, signed an executive order requiring the California Highway Patrol to collect the data.) Washington The state police must collect racial data on traffic stops, but local law enforcement agencies aren't required to do so. Connecticut, Kansas, Massachusetts, Oregon, and Tennessee In these states, both state and local law enforcement agencies must collect traffic-stop data by race. Missouri In Missouri, all law enforcement officers must record the race and ethnicity of every driver they stop. Furthermore, they must record certain additional details: · the age and gender of the driver; · the alleged traffic violation leading to the stop; · whether a search was conducted, of either the person or the vehicle; · the legal basis for the search (for example, "probable cause" or "driver's consent"); · whether contraband was found, and if so, what kind; · whether a warning or citation was issued, and if so, what kind; · whether an arrest was made, and if so, under what charge; · the location of the stop. Rhode Island Beyond the details that Missouri requires, Rhode Island also tells officers to note: · the date and time of the stop; · the duration of the stop. North Carolina North Carolina requires only state police officers to record information on traffic stops. They collect the same data that Rhode Island and Missouri do, and also: · The race, age, and gender of each person searched, if any were; · The basis for probable cause, if the officer conducted a search; · What property officers seized, if any; · Whether the officers encountered any physical resistance; · Whether any injuries resulted. Two other states have policies on racial profiling not enacted by their legislatures: Kentucky Kentucky Governor Paul Patton issued an executive order outlawing racial profiling. His order also requires state law enforcement agencies to collect racial statistics on traffic stops and urges local agencies to do the same. Maryland A lawsuit was brought against the Maryland state police for alleged racial profiling. Maryland settled the lawsuit in 1995 by agreeing not to make stops solely based on race and agreeing to document all searches and arrests. Source: Institute of Race and Poverty, at the University of Minnesota Law School, http://www1.umn.edu/irp/publications/racialprofiling.html. For more information, see their Web site. The text of the state statutes can be found on the Web site of Americans for Effective Law Enforcement, at www.aele.org/Profile.html.
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