National Association of Police Organizations: Press Releases and Bulletins

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: (202) 842-3560
April 14, 1999
JODY HEDEMAN COUSER

WASHINGTON, DC - The National Association of Police Organizations (NAPO) announced today its alarm over the 'Traffic Stops Statistics Study Act of 1999,' introduced by Representative John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI), and other members of Congress. Representative Conyers introduced a similar bill in the last Congress, which NAPO lobbied actively against, and thanks in part to NAPO's efforts, the bill died in the Senate. NAPO represents more than 220,000 sworn law enforcement officers through 4,000 police unions and associations nationwide.

The bill would require the Attorney General to conduct a study of stops for routine traffic violations by law enforcement officers. It would require officers to record the following types of information: the number of individuals stopped for routine traffic violations; and identifying characteristics of each individual stopped, including race and/or ethnicity, approximate age, and gender, among other requirements.

"What I think needs to be made clear to the American public is that there is no need for new legislation on this issue. The Attorney General of this country already has the authority to collect this data in any area of the country where she sees a problem of alleged racial profiling by police officers during traffic stops," said Robert T. Scully, executive director, NAPO. "Representative Conyers is reintroducing a bill that died in
the Senate during the last Congress. The new version is essentially the same as last year's with one major exception. Last year's legislation limited the use of the data obtained from the study only for research or statistical purposes. The data, in last year's bill, could not have been used selectively in any legal or administrative proceeding to establish inferences of racial discrimination. In other words, the data could not be used to go after certain police departments or individual police officers in an unreasonable or unfair way. The newly proposed bill, however, would make the data readily available to the cottage industry of lawyers who make their living suing police officers across the country," continued Scully.

"Has Representative Conyers forgotten the need to have probable cause for a traffic stop? If an individual, whether that person be African-American, Caucasian, Latino, or any other race or ethnic group, has been pulled over by an officer with probable cause to make that traffic stop, and it turns out that that individual has done nothing wrong, then what is the problem? As a society, sometimes law-abiding citizens will be inconvenienced when police aggressively enforce the laws and investigate crimes," said Scully. "Just being stopped by the police when they have good reason to do so should not cause those stopped to believe that their rights were violated. Isn't one's safety on the street more important than the occasional, if not rare, occurrence of the aggravation or inconvenience one might face when being questioned by an officer," continued Scully. "As the nation's violent crime rate continues to drop, is it an acceptable time to change police practices that have contributed to this drop in crime?" continued Scully.

"NAPO is strongly opposed to any instances of blatant racial discrimination, such as pulling over an automobile, searching personal property or detaining an individual, when based solely on the individual's race, ethnicity, gender or age and not on any reasonable suspicion of danger or violations of law. As the former Police Commissioner of New York City, William J. Bratton, was quoted in a recent New York Times article, officers develop what can be called 'street smarts' or 'awareness,' sometimes also called the sixth sense. Having a sixth sense is often a sign of a seasoned or skilled law enforcement officer - one that you would surely want protecting your neighborhood," said Scully.

"NAPO acknowledges that the police profiling debate is a challenge faced by both America's law enforcement officers, as well as by the public. The solution to this challenge is not found in the legislation introduced by Representative Conyers," said Scully.

The bill is based on two presumptions. First, that law enforcement officers routinely stop racial and ethnic minorities of color for traffic violations purposely to discriminate against such individuals, and secondly, that the number of citations issued are disproportionate as compared to numbers of citations for individuals whose color is white. This is not the case. Often police officers do not know the race or ethnic background of an individual when they see a traffic offense, especially at night but often even during daylight. Officers are trained to immediately pursue a vehicle for a traffic infraction irrespectable of the driver's appearance.

If passed into law, the bill would place a burden on the police and lengthen traffic stops. For example, to obtain the information required by the bill, the police officer would have to ask about race or ethnicity and age. Also, for each stop the officer would also have to develop a record as to whether a search was instituted, how it was conducted, the rationale for the search, and the nature of any contraband, all in addition to asking about other items. The information on personal characteristics would likely be considered highly offensive by many individuals. If an officer is uncertain of someone's ethnic background (there are many dark-skinned individuals who may look African American but may be Latino or vice versa; or who may look Latino but may be of Arabic origin or perhaps of another ethnic group such as Sudanese, Ethiopian, Pakistani, or Iranian), the officer would often have to ask for this information and can be expected to meet resistance and hostility to such questions. Also, the time necessary to fill out these forms would take away from law enforcement efforts.

One of the most vulnerable moments for a law enforcement officer, is when he or she pulls over a car for a traffic violation. The statistics on the numbers of officers killed feloniously or assaulted in the line of duty during traffic stops confirm this danger. Since the advent of the automobile, approximately 300 law enforcement officers are known to have died during traffic stops, and approximately 80% of those were shot to death. The proposed study would make a dangerous situation worse and escalate bad tempers, by bringing race into the discussion. An officer's life may be put further at risk, as well as the passenger's if the officer has to act in self-defense.

It is also unclear what the study would prove. If the study focuses on inner city police departments, it would indicate a greater number of minorities stopped as compared with suburban police departments, reflecting the population makeup of those communities. As proposed, this study would have a weak statistical basis. It is inconceivable that the data will be accurate unless an officer does verify racial and ethnic background and the violator responds cooperatively. If some of the individuals stopped for a traffic offense do not want to cooperate and provide this personal information - which can be expected, the data will be skewered and inaccurate.

"This bill threatens to produce a practice of reverse discrimination. Law enforcement officers across the country will find themselves even more threatened by lawsuits and that threat may surface in a practice of reverse discrimination. It could even potentially lead to an unofficial parity based on race, ethnicity, age or gender. Does the American public really want to see a lower standard of probable cause being applied to Caucasians and a higher standard being applied to African-Americans or Latinos? This will result in lawlessness. This will send the wrong message to criminals across the country," said Scully.

"I urge everyone, law enforcement and members of the general public alike, to come together in discussions on how to handle this debate. Let's search for solutions rather than create problems. To those persons running to the microphone to criticize the police, I urge you to unite and work with us, rather than igniting more hostility by adding fuel to the fire," said Scully.

The National Association of Police Organizations (NAPO) is a coalition of police unions and associations from across the United States that serves in Washington, DC to advance the interests of America's law enforcement officers through legislative and legal advocacy, political action and education. Founded in 1978, NAPO now represents more than 4,000 police unions and associations, 250,000 sworn law enforcement officers, 3,000 retired officers and more than 100,000 citizens who share a common dedication to fair and effective crime control and law enforcement.
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