When it comes to racial profiling,
disclosure is sometimes an excuse for inaction
published May
21 , 2001
written by Phillip Reese / Greensboro,
North Carolina
photographed by Dustin Ross / New York
About a year ago, the Houston Police Department began collecting data to see if its officers practiced racial profiling. The race of every driver pulled over was noted and added to a database.
The results of the study, however, were admittedly a foregone conclusion. "We did it on our own volition as a way of proving a point," Houston Police spokesman John Leggio told Inthefray. "Should we ever be asked whether racial profiling exists, we would know that it does not."
Leggio said the Houston Police Department would take immediate action if the study found one of its officers engaged in racial profiling, the practice of stopping motorists of certain racial or ethnic backgrounds because of a belief that these groups are more likely than others to commit certain crimes. The study, however, resulted in no such findings. It concluded exactly what the Houston Police Department wanted it to conclude: racial profiling does not happen in Houston.
Seven states have passed legislation since 1999 mandating that law enforcement agencies report the race and sex of every person pulled over by a cop. Other states are considering similar measures, and a bill authorizing the U.S. Department of Justice to collect statistics on racial profiling is working its way through Congress. Many civil rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the NAACP, back the legislation.
No person should be subjected to a criminal investigation because of the color of his or her skin, and any reasonable law or initiative that will stop racial profiling should be implemented. Proponents of traffic stop statistics say that an officer who must record the race of every driver he or she pulls over will be less likely to make racially motivated stops. Also, they believe that collecting the data will allow government officials and civil rights groups to hold police accountable when they engage in racial profiling. But it is not clear that reporting traffic stops by race will help to eliminate the problem. Measuring traffic stops by race is a messy science. The statistics that do get publicized tell people what they already know. And for police departments reluctant to reform their practices, commissioning studies can take the place of meaningful action.
Traffic jam