By West S.B. No. 1074
77R8381 JMC-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the prevention of racial profiling by certain peace
1-3 officers.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Chapter 2, Code of Criminal Procedure, is amended
1-6 by adding Articles 2.131-2.136 to read as follows:
1-7 Art. 2.131. RACIAL PROFILING PROHIBITED. A peace officer
1-8 may not engage in racial profiling.
1-9 Art. 2.132. LAW ENFORCEMENT POLICY ON RACIAL PROFILING. (a)
1-10 In this article, "law enforcement agency" means an agency of the
1-11 state, or a county, municipality, or political subdivision of the
1-12 state that employs peace officers who make traffic stops in the
1-13 routine performance of the officers' official duties.
1-14 (b) Each law enforcement agency in this state shall adopt a
1-15 detailed written policy on racial profiling. The policy must:
1-16 (1) clearly define acts constituting racial profiling;
1-17 (2) strictly prohibit peace officers employed by the
1-18 agency from engaging in racial profiling;
1-19 (3) implement a process by which an individual may
1-20 file a complaint with the agency if the individual believes that a
1-21 peace officer employed by the agency has engaged in racial
1-22 profiling with respect to the individual;
1-23 (4) provide public education relating to the agency's
1-24 complaint process;
2-1 (5) require appropriate corrective action to be taken
2-2 against a peace officer employed by the agency who, after an
2-3 investigation, is shown to have engaged in racial profiling in
2-4 violation of the agency's policy adopted under this article;
2-5 (6) require collection of information relating to
2-6 traffic stops in which a citation is issued and to arrests
2-7 resulting from those traffic stops, including information relating
2-8 to:
2-9 (A) the ethnicity of the individual detained;
2-10 and
2-11 (B) whether a search was conducted and if so,
2-12 whether the person detained consented to the search;
2-13 (7) require quarterly evaluation and analysis of
2-14 information collected by the agency as required by Subdivision (6);
2-15 and
2-16 (8) require the agency to submit to the governing body
2-17 of each county or municipality served by the agency an annual
2-18 report of the information analyzed under Subdivision (7).
2-19 (c) On adoption of a policy under Subsection (b), a law
2-20 enforcement agency shall examine the feasibility of installing
2-21 video camera and voice activated microphone equipment in each
2-22 agency law enforcement motor vehicle regularly used to make traffic
2-23 stops and voice activated microphone equipment in each agency law
2-24 enforcement motorcycle regularly used to make traffic stops. If a
2-25 law enforcement agency installs video or audio equipment as
2-26 provided by this subsection, the policy adopted by the agency under
2-27 Subsection (b) must include standards for reviewing video and audio
3-1 documentation.
3-2 (d) A report required under Subsection (b)(8) may not
3-3 include identifying information about a peace officer who makes a
3-4 traffic stop or about an individual who is stopped or arrested by a
3-5 peace officer.
3-6 Art. 2.133. REPORTS REQUIRED FOR TRAFFIC AND PEDESTRIAN
3-7 STOPS. A peace officer who stops a motor vehicle for an alleged
3-8 violation of a law or ordinance regulating traffic or who stops a
3-9 pedestrian for any suspected offense shall report to the law
3-10 enforcement agency that employs the officer:
3-11 (1) a physical description of each person detained as
3-12 a result of the stop, including:
3-13 (A) the person's gender; and
3-14 (B) the person's ethnicity, as stated by the
3-15 person or, if the person does not state the person's ethnicity, as
3-16 determined by the officer to the best of the officer's ability;
3-17 (2) the traffic law or ordinance alleged to have been
3-18 violated or the suspected offense;
3-19 (3) whether the officer conducted a search as a result
3-20 of the stop, and if so, whether the person detained consented to
3-21 the search;
3-22 (4) whether any contraband was discovered in the
3-23 course of the search and the type of contraband discovered;
3-24 (5) whether probable cause to search existed and the
3-25 facts supporting the existence of that probable cause;
3-26 (6) whether the officer made an arrest as a result of
3-27 the stop or the search, including a statement of the offense
4-1 charged;
4-2 (7) the street address or approximate location of the
4-3 stop; and
4-4 (8) whether the officer issued a warning or a citation
4-5 as a result of the stop, including a description of the warning or
4-6 a statement of the violation charged.
4-7 Art. 2.134. COMPILATION AND ANALYSIS OF INFORMATION
4-8 COLLECTED. (a) A law enforcement agency shall compile and analyze
4-9 the information contained in each report received by the agency
4-10 under Article 2.133 and, not later than March 1 of each year,
4-11 submit a report containing the information compiled during the
4-12 previous calendar year to the governing body of each county or
4-13 municipality served by the agency in a manner approved by the
4-14 agency.
4-15 (b) A report required under Subsection (a) must include:
4-16 (1) a comparative analysis of the information compiled
4-17 under Article 2.133 to:
4-18 (A) determine the prevalence of racial profiling
4-19 by peace officers employed by the agency; and
4-20 (B) examine the disposition of traffic and
4-21 pedestrian stops made by officers employed by the agency, including
4-22 searches resulting from the stops; and
4-23 (2) information relating to each complaint filed with
4-24 the agency alleging that a peace officer employed by the agency has
4-25 engaged in racial profiling.
4-26 (c) A report required under Subsection (a) may not include
4-27 identifying information about a peace officer who makes a traffic
5-1 or pedestrian stop or about an individual who is stopped or
5-2 arrested by a peace officer.
5-3 (d) The Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and
5-4 Education shall develop guidelines for compiling and reporting
5-5 information as required by this article.
5-6 Art. 2.135. EXEMPTION FOR AGENCIES USING VIDEO AND AUDIO
5-7 EQUIPMENT. (a) A peace officer is exempt from the reporting
5-8 requirement under Article 2.133 and a law enforcement agency is
5-9 exempt from the compilation, analysis, and reporting requirements
5-10 under Article 2.134 if, during the calendar year preceding the date
5-11 that a report under Article 2.134 is required to be submitted:
5-12 (1) each law enforcement motor vehicle regularly used
5-13 by an officer employed by the agency to make traffic and pedestrian
5-14 stops is equipped with video camera and voice activated microphone
5-15 equipment and each law enforcement motorcycle regularly used to
5-16 make traffic and pedestrian stops is equipped with voice activated
5-17 microphone equipment; and
5-18 (2) each traffic and pedestrian stop made by an
5-19 officer employed by the agency is recorded by using the video and
5-20 audio or audio equipment, as appropriate.
5-21 (b) Except as otherwise provided by this subsection, a law
5-22 enforcement agency that is exempt from the requirements under
5-23 Article 2.134 shall retain the video and audio or audio
5-24 documentation of each traffic and pedestrian stop for at least 90
5-25 days after the date of the stop. If a complaint is filed with the
5-26 law enforcement agency alleging that a peace officer employed by
5-27 the agency has engaged in racial profiling with respect to a
6-1 traffic or pedestrian stop, the agency shall retain the video and
6-2 audio or audio record of the stop until final disposition of the
6-3 complaint.
6-4 Art. 2.136. LIABILITY. A peace officer is not liable for
6-5 damages arising from an act relating to the collection or reporting
6-6 of information as required by Article 2.133 or under a policy
6-7 adopted under Article 2.132.
6-8 SECTION 2. Chapter 3, Code of Criminal Procedure, is amended
6-9 by adding Article 3.05 to read as follows:
6-10 Art. 3.05. RACIAL PROFILING. In this code, "racial
6-11 profiling" means a law enforcement-initiated action based on an
6-12 individual's race, ethnicity, or national origin rather than on the
6-13 individual's behavior or on information identifying the individual
6-14 as having engaged in criminal activity.
6-15 SECTION 3. Section 1701.253, Occupations Code, is amended by
6-16 adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
6-17 (e) As part of the minimum curriculum requirements, the
6-18 commission shall establish a statewide comprehensive education and
6-19 training program on racial profiling for officers licensed under
6-20 this chapter. An officer shall complete a program established
6-21 under this subsection not later than the second anniversary of the
6-22 date the officer is licensed under this chapter or the date the
6-23 officer applies for an intermediate proficiency certificate,
6-24 whichever date is earlier.
6-25 SECTION 4. Section 1701.402, Occupations Code, is amended by
6-26 adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
6-27 (d) As a requirement for an intermediate proficiency
7-1 certificate, an officer must complete an education and training
7-2 program on racial profiling established by the commission under
7-3 Section 1701.253(e).
7-4 SECTION 5. Section 543.202, Transportation Code, is amended
7-5 to read as follows:
7-6 Sec. 543.202. FORM OF RECORD. The record must be made on a
7-7 form or by a data processing method acceptable to the department
7-8 and must include:
7-9 (1) the name, address, physical description, including
7-10 ethnicity, gender, height, and weight, date of birth, and driver's
7-11 license number of the person charged;
7-12 (2) the registration number of the vehicle involved;
7-13 (3) whether the vehicle was a commercial motor vehicle
7-14 as defined by Chapter 522 or was involved in transporting hazardous
7-15 materials;
7-16 (4) the person's social security number, if the person
7-17 was operating a commercial motor vehicle or was the holder of a
7-18 commercial driver's license or commercial driver learner's permit;
7-19 (5) the date and nature of the offense, including
7-20 whether the offense was a serious traffic violation as defined by
7-21 Chapter 522;
7-22 (6) whether a search of the vehicle was conducted and
7-23 whether consent for the search was obtained;
7-24 (7) the plea, the judgment, and whether bail was
7-25 forfeited;
7-26 (8) [(7)] the date of conviction; and
7-27 (9) [(8)] the amount of the fine or forfeiture.
8-1 SECTION 6. Not later than January 1, 2002, a law enforcement
8-2 agency shall adopt and implement a policy and begin collecting
8-3 information under the policy as required by Article 2.132, Code of
8-4 Criminal Procedure, as added by this Act. A law enforcement agency
8-5 shall first submit information to the governing body of each county
8-6 or municipality served by the agency as required by Article 2.132,
8-7 Code of Criminal Procedure, as added by this Act, on March 1, 2003.
8-8 The first submission of information shall consist of information
8-9 compiled by the agency during the period beginning January 1, 2002,
8-10 and ending December 31, 2002.
8-11 SECTION 7. A law enforcement agency shall first submit
8-12 information to the governing body of each county or municipality
8-13 served by the agency as required by Article 2.134, Code of Criminal
8-14 Procedure, as added by this Act, on March 1, 2004. The first
8-15 submission of information shall consist of information compiled by
8-16 the agency during the period beginning January 1, 2003, and ending
8-17 December 31, 2003.
8-18 SECTION 8. The Commission on Law Enforcement Officer
8-19 Standards and Education shall establish an education and training
8-20 program on racial profiling as required by Section 1701.253(e),
8-21 Occupations Code, as added by this Act, not later than January 1,
8-22 2002.
8-23 SECTION 9. A person who on the effective date of this Act
8-24 holds an intermediate proficiency certificate issued by the
8-25 Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education or
8-26 has held a peace officer license issued by the Commission on Law
8-27 Enforcement Officer Standards and Education for at least two years
9-1 shall complete an education and training program on racial
9-2 profiling established under Section 1701.253(e), Occupations Code,
9-3 as added by this Act, not later than September 1, 2003.
9-4 SECTION 10. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.