| 2/4/2013 |
Almeida, Diaz to introduce bill to collect racial profiling data and protect youth and others in searches
STATE HOUSE – Flanked by community advocacy groups, Rep. Joseph Almeida and Rep. Grace Diaz announced they will be submitting legislation to reinstate traffic stop data collection to detect racial profiling and requiring police to meet basic standards of reasonable suspicion before searching juveniles or vehicle passengers.
At a State House news conference and rally today, the two Providence representatives say the Comprehensive Racial Profiling Prevention Act of 2013 is aimed at preventing juveniles and drivers from being hassled because of the color of their skin.
“As I’ve said for years, driving while black – or brown or any other color – is not a crime. More than a decade after we first started collected traffic stop information, those of us in the minority community know that we are still being stopped more often, and getting searched for no good reason. Kids tell us that just being outside with their friends can be enough to attract attention from the police, even when they’re doing nothing wrong at all. Police need to be able to fight criminal activity, but they shouldn’t treat people with suspicion solely because of the color of their skin,” said Representative Almeida (D-Dist. 12, Providence), who is a retired Providence police officer.
Said Rep. Grace Diaz (D-Dist. 11, Providence), “In the case of children, police shouldn’t take advantage of the fact that they are young, probably scared, and don’t know their rights. Besides, unequal treatment by officers can make them afraid of police for the rest of their lives. If they know police as the people who gave them or their friends a hard time for no reason, they’re not going to call police when they are the victims of a crime. Building a better relationship between police and minority community will make our neighborhoods safer places.”
If enacted, the legislation would require police to meet a basic standard of reasonable suspicion before conducting searches on juveniles and others, while resuming data collection about race that police collected during traffic stops in the early 2000s to detect patterns of racial profiling.
It would also mandate the state Department of Transportation to review annual reports for at least four years after the completion of the data collection period. Those reports, which would be taken from each community’s police department, would provide detail about which actions – if any – have been taken to “address any racial disparities in traffic stops and/or searches.”
Language in the bill – which the legislators intend to introduce tomorrow – includes restricting intrusive questioning of car passengers or pedestrians when there is a “lack of suspicious activity.” Beginning on Jan. 1, 2014, each police officer would have to document in writing his or her probable cause grounds for conducting a search and the results of that search.
Since many young people are unaware that police need reasonable
suspicion of criminal activity and a warrant to search them unless
they consent to the search, the bill would require officers to inform any juveniles they search without a warrant of that law and that they may refuse or limit the scope of any requested search.
The legislation also includes a piece detailing how law enforcement agencies would utilize video or audio surveillance. According to the bill, recordings of traffic stops shall begin no later than when an officer first signals the vehicle to stop or arrives at the scene of an ongoing motor vehicle stop. Recordings would cease when the officer’s participation is complete. Law enforcement officials would also have to advise drivers that the encounter is being recorded.
The bill also states that the Department of Transportation’s Office of Highway Safety would publish data about police misconduct complaints and create a public report to submit to the General Assembly about efforts of each police department across the state to prevent racial profiling.
The legislators were joined by supporters from the Coalition Against Racial Profiling, a coalition whose members include the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Univocal Legislative Minority Advisory Coalition, the Urban League of Rhode Island , Youth in Action, the Providence Youth Student Movement and many other community organizations. For more information, visit http://ristopracialprofiling.com
For more information, contact:
Meredyth R. Whitty, Publicist
State House Room 20
Providence, RI 02903
(401) 222-2457 |
LEGISLATIVE INFO
