S-1310.2 _______________________________________________
SENATE BILL 5853
_______________________________________________
State of Washington 57th Legislature 2001 Regular Session
By Senators Franklin and Kline
Read first time 02/06/2001. Referred to Committee on Judiciary.
AN ACT Relating to traffic-stop racial profiling; adding a new section to chapter 43.101 RCW; and creating a new section.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) The legislature recognizes that according to a 1999 Gallup Poll, a majority of Americans, black and white, believed that police actively engage in the practice of racial profiling. Eighty-one percent of those questioned said they disapprove of the practice.
(2) In A Resource Guide on Racial Profiling Data Collection Systems published by the United States department of justice in November 2000, "racial profiling" means any police-initiated action that relies on the race, ethnicity, or national origin rather than the behavior of an individual or information that leads the police to a particular individual who has been identified as being, or having been, engaged in criminal activity. It is the intent of the legislature to make information on this practice available, in a usable format, to policymakers and law enforcement agencies.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 43.101 RCW to read as follows:
(1) Beginning July 1, 2002, except for traffic enforcement agencies already compiling the information required by this section, every traffic enforcement agency in this state shall provide an annual report to the criminal justice training commission, on forms provided by the commission, including the following information:
(a) The number of individuals stopped for routine traffic enforcement, whether or not a citation or warning was issued;
(b) Identifying characteristics of the individual stopped, including the race or ethnicity, approximate age, and gender;
(c) The nature of the alleged traffic infraction or violation that led to the stop;
(d) Whether a search was instituted as a result of the stop;
(e) The legal basis for the search, including whether consent was obtained, whether a canine unit was alerted, and whether there was probable cause or reasonable suspicion to suspect a crime; and
(f) Whether an arrest was made, or a written citation issued, as a result of either the stop or the search.
(2) The criminal justice training commission, in cooperation with affected law enforcement agencies, shall compile the information required under subsection (1) of this section in a manner that is of value in guiding legislative policies, assisting the persons in charge of the apprehension, prosecution, and treatment of persons who are suspected of breaching the law, as well as benefiting crime and delinquency prevention efforts. The report shall include statistics which are comparable with national uniform criminal statistics published by federal bureaus or departments.
(3) Data acquired under this section shall not contain any information that may reveal the identity of any individual who is stopped.
(4) The information required under subsection (1) of this section shall be reported to the commission with codes used to identify areas of patrol within the jurisdiction of the traffic enforcement agency. The coding system shall be known only by the reporting traffic enforcement agency.
--- END ---