Ending Racial Profiling in Law Enforcement: Appendix D - Efforts in Profiling Data Collection

© 2002 Peter Free

 

Go to: Page 1 ─ Page 2 ─ Page 3 ─ Page 4 ─ Appendix A

 

Appendix B ─ Appendix C ─ Appendix E ─ Footnotes

 

What Three Police Departments Are Doing to Track Profiling

            The mechanics of racial profiling data collection are important.  They determine the utility of what results from the effort.  Three departments have already wrestled with method.  San Jose uses the simplest, most time-efficient and least useful system.  San Diego and the North Carolina Highway Patrol use more complex systems, both requiring in-car computer systems.

            The San Jose Police Department began tracking racial data on traffic stops in mid-1999.  The Department used simple alpha codes to inform Dispatch of (a) gender, (b) race, (c) adult or youth status, (d) reason for stop, and (e) disposition.  Officer perception was considered adequate for determination of race/ethnicity.  There were eight categories: Asian American, African American, Hispanic, Native American, Other, Pacific Islander, Middle Eastern/East Indian, and White.  There were only four reasons for making a stop: vehicle code violation, penal violation, municipal violation, and an all points bulletin.  Dispositions included: arrest, warrant arrest, criminal citation, hazardous traffic citation, non-hazardous traffic citation, field interview card, courtesy assist, and no report. [121]

            There were potential shortcomings to the San Jose approach.  The system failed to account for searches, pedestrian stops, and the discretionary magnitude of non-hazardous traffic infractions. [122]  Officer and citizen data were kept anonymous to satisfy the police union, so the system could not be used for disciplinary purposes. [123]

San Diego voluntarily began using a more complicated data collection system in 1999. [124]  It focused on 14 data elements:

(a) district,;

(b) date & time;

(c) cause for stop:

moving violation,

equipment violation,

radio call/citizen complaint,

person observation/knowledge,

suspect information from bulletin/log, or

municipal/county violation;

       (d) race:

                    Other Asian,

                     Black,

                     Chinese,

                     Cambodian,

                     Filipino,

                     Guamanian,

                     Hispanic,

                     Indian,

                     Japanese,

                     Korean,

                      Laotian,

                      Other,

                      Pacific Islander,

                      Samoan,

                      Hawaiian,

                      Vietnamese,

                      White,

                      Asian Indian;

         (e) gender;

         (f) age;

         (g)  disposition: 

                                                citation,

                                                oral warning,

                                                written warning,

                                                field interview, or

                                                other;

          (h) arrest;

          (i)  search;

          (j)  search type:

                                                vehicle,

                                                driver,

                                                passenger;

          (k) basis for search:

                                                visible contraband,

                                                odor of contraband,

                                                canine alert,

                                                inventory search prior to impound,

                                                consent search,

                                                Fourth Amendment waiver search,

                                                search incident to arrest,

                                                inventory search,

                                                observed evidence of criminal activity,

                                                other;

           (l) consent form obtained;

           (m) contraband found; and

           (n) property seized. [125]

 

San Diego used officer perception of race/ethnicity.  Data was entered on laptop computers with pull-down menus.

            Shortcomings in San Diego approach include no provision for data verification due to potential opposition from the police union [126] and the ridiculously long list of races/ethnicities.  It would be a rare officer who was racially attuned enough to make educated judgments for all these categories.  Pedestrian stops were not covered.  There is no way to verify the accuracy or completeness of the information provided.

            North Carolina law mandates data collection by state troopers.  Required elements include:

                        (a) reason for the stop:

                                                check boxes for varieties of high and low discretion stops;

                        (b) race/ethnicity,

                                                Asian,

                                                Black,

                                                Hispanic,

                                                non-Hispanic,

                                                Indian,

                                                Other,

                                                White;

                        (c)  gender;

                        (d) approximate age;

                        (e) enforcement action taken;

                        (f) physical resistance;

                        (g) whether a search was done:

                                                type of search,

                                                basis for search,

                                                what was searched,

                                                race, ethnicity, gender of people searched;

                                                description of contraband/property seized. [127]

 

            State troopers plan to use a combination of officer perception, driver's self-description, and Bureau of Motor Vehicles data to provide race/ethnic information.  The Highway Patrol did not collect officer identification numbers.  No information is provided for location and duration of the stop. [128]

 

(This is Appendix D)

 

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Appendix B ─ Appendix C ─ Appendix E ─ Footnotes