09-R248
2009 -- S 0909
Enacted 05/12/09
S E N A T E R E S O L U T I O N
DESIGNATING THE
MONTH OF MAY AS "RACIAL PROFILING AWARENESS MONTH"
Introduced By: Senator Harold M. Metts
Date Introduced: May 12, 2009
WHEREAS, In 2000, the Rhode Island General Assembly declared that
“the use of racial
profiling for stopping or searching motorists on our public
highways is against public policy and
violates the civil rights of the motorists”; and
WHEREAS, Municipal and
state law enforcement officers play a vital role in protecting
the public from crime, and the vast majority of police
officers discharge their duties
professionally and without bias; and
WHEREAS, In 2003, an independent analysis by
worth of traffic stops data collected by police departments
across the state found that African-
American and Latino drivers were more likely than
white drivers to be stopped, and more than
twice as likely as white drivers to be searched by police;
and
WHEREAS, In 2004, this General Assembly, in finding that some law
enforcement
practices may have the unintended effect of promoting racially
disparate stops and searches,
further required police departments to collect traffic stop
information for an additional year; and
WHEREAS, In 2006, an independent analysis by
continued to find that African-American and Latino drivers
remained more likely than white
drivers to be stopped and searched, even though white drivers
were more likely to be found with
contraband when searched; and
WHEREAS, A more recent independent analysis of traffic stops data
from the Rhode
by Rhode Island State Police” and that there is
“substantial evidence of racial and ethnic disparity
in discretionary searches by the Rhode Island State
Police in 2006”; and
WHEREAS, As this General Assembly has previously found that “racial
profiling harms
individuals subjected to it because they experience fear,
anxiety, humiliation, anger, resentment
and cynicism when they are unjustifiably treated as
criminal suspects”; and
WHEREAS, Racial profiling damages law enforcement and the criminal
justice system
as a whole by undermining public confidence and trust in
the police, the courts, and criminal law,
and thereby undermines law enforcement efforts and
ability to solve and reduce crime; and
WHEREAS, Many people are
not aware of the problem of racial profiling in the state or
the availability of remedies for conduct that violates
the Racial Profiling Prevention Act of 2004;
and
WHEREAS, Numerous community organizations are working throughout the
month of
May to educate the public and members of their
communities about the issues surrounding racial
profiling and their rights to be free from biased-based
policing; and
WHEREAS, Those organizations include such diverse groups as the Urban
League of
the International Institute of
Providence Youth Student Movement; now, therefore be
it
RESOLVED,
That this Senate of the State of
hereby proclaims May 2009 as “Racial Profiling Awareness Month,”
and urges all residents to
learn about the issue of bias-based policing and to work
with community groups, police
departments and others in addressing this problem; and be it
further
RESOLVED,
That the Secretary of State be and he is hereby
authorized and directed to
transmit duly certified copies of this resolution to the Urban
League of Rhode Island,
Action, Progreso
Latino, the
of
Movement.
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LC02605
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