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Racial Profiling Update At the July 2000, meeting in Schaumburg, IL, CALEA staff recommended the approval of a new, proposed Standard 1.2.9 Profiling. SRIC recognized this as a major issue for law enforcement officials and felt that comment was needed from the field before a final decision was made. As a result, three versions of a profiling standard were posted on CALEA’s web-site for discussion with the goal of making a final decision in November. The posting drew a significant response from both agencies and CEOs. At the November meeting in Burlington, VT, the SRIC reviewed the extensive response and heard from concerned agencies. As a result, a new, proposed standard was developed and is being posted for comment from the field. In order to be better able to evaluate the new proposal, CALEA is also posting the initial three proposed standards that have already been commented upon. SRIC will review the response regarding the new, proposed standard with the goal of making a final recommendation at the March meeting in Greensboro. Coincidentally, the International Association of Police Chiefs, in their November State Legislative Report, noted that during the year 2000, measures dealing with racial profiling by law enforcement officers were introduced in over 25 states, with 18 states taking significant action. Eight states (California, Kansas, Massachusetts, Missouri, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Tennessee, and Washington) ultimately passed racial profiling legislation. Two states, Missouri and Rhode Island passed bills requiring all law enforcement officials to record information for all traffic stops. Officers in Massachusetts are now required to record information on all people who are issued a citation as a result of the traffic stop. Kansas and Tennessee will be setting up pilot projects to study the problem. In Washington, law enforcement officers will be encouraged, but not required, to collect data on traffic stops. California law bars police from making racially motivated stops and requires them to get more training. A new Oklahoma law makes it a misdemeanor for any law officer to detain or arrest anyone based on his or her race, and permits those who believe they were detained by police merely because of their color or ethnic background to file a complaint with the state Human Rights Commission or their district attorney. In addition, Florida law enforcement officials agreed to participate voluntarily in traffic stops statistics studies to avoid the passage of legislation. Under an Executive Order issued by the Governor, Kentucky state law enforcement agencies will begin collecting information on traffic stops. A bill that would have required the compilation of such information was defeated in the General Assembly session. In September, Colorado’s Governor issued an executive order prohibiting the use of racial profiling by state agencies.
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