Senate Bill S1633A

                                BILL NUMBER:S1633

TITLE OF BILL:
An act
to amend the executive law, in relation to ethnic or racial profiling

PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
The proposed legislation prohibits law enforcement officers from using
racial and ethnic profiling, establishes a collection of data on
traffic stops and creates a cause of action based on racial or ethnic
profiling.

SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 - amends the executive law by creating a new section 837-s;
Subdivision 1 contains definitions. Subdivision 2 prohibits law
enforcement agencies and law enforcement officers from engaging in
racial or ethnic profiling. Subdivision 3 requires every law
enforcement agency to promulgate and adopt procedures for reviewing
complaints of racial or ethnic profiling and taking corrective
measures. A copy of each complaint and a written summary of the
disposition must be forwarded to the division of criminal justice
services. Subdivision 4 requires each law enforcement agency to
collect and maintain data with respect to traffic stops and persons
patted down, frisked and searched. Subdivision 5 requires every law
enforcement agency to compile the data collected and forward an
annual report to the division of criminal justice services by March
              

1st of each year. Subdivision 6 requires the division of criminal
justice services in consultation with the Attorney General to
promulgate necessary forms. Subdivision 7 requires every law
enforcement agency to make documents required by this bill available
to the Attorney General within 5 days of a demand. Subdivision 8
requires every law enforcement agency to provide all data collected
from traffic stops to the division of criminal justice services. The
division
shall implement a computerized data system for public viewing of
such data and shall publish an annual report on law enforcement.
traffic stops without revealing the identity of any individuals.
Subdivision 9 states that an action for injunctive relief and/or for
damages may be brought by the Attorney General on behalf of the
people against a law enforcement agency that has engaged in racial or
ethnic profiling. A court may award costs and reasonable attorney
fees to a prevailing plaintiff. Subdivision 10
states that an action for injunctive relief and/or for damages
may be brought by an individual that has been the subject of racial
profiling against a law enforcement agency that has engaged in racial
or ethnic profiling. A court may award costs and reasonable attorney
fees to a prevailing plaintiff. Subdivision 11 provides that section
837-s does not diminish or abrogate any other right, remedy or cause
of action which an individual who has been the subject of racial
profiling may have. Section 2 - contains the effective date.

JUSTIFICATION:
As a part of the national "war on drugs" local enforcement agencies
around the country have developed profiles of people they think are
most likely to be involved in drug trafficking. The arguably
unconstitutional use of race or ethnicity as a criteria has become


the focus of many civil and human rights groups. The practice is
commonly known as "racial profiling." Many people of color including
prominent athletes, members of Congress, actors, lawyers, law
enforcement officers and business leaders have experienced the
humiliation of being stopped on the nation's roads as a result of this
practice. Almost every minority can tell a story about being stopped
by the police for no apparent reason other than the color of their
skin. In recent years, the number of "traffic stops" where the only
apparent reason for stopping the person was their race or ethnicity,
has become so prevalent that the minority community has derisively
termed it "Driving While Black or Brown" (DWB).
Blacks, Hispanics and other minority groups have long been victims of
biased and unjustified traffic stops by law enforcement officers.
This consequently has had a corrosive effect on the relations between
police and the minority communities. As a result of racial profiling,
many innocent Black drivers can end up parked on a highway,
questioned by law enforcement, while their vehicles and belongings
are searched. In a sense, the U.S. Supreme Court established an open
season on minority motorists in 1996 when it ruled in Whren v.
U.S., 571 U.S. 806 (1996), that police could use any traffic offense
as a reason to stop a motorist. Minority motorists can be and are
pulled over and detained for the most trivial of traffic offenses
which are contained in many cities' vehicle codes. These offenses
range from violations of tire depth to the distance in which a
motorist must signal before turning. Many of these stops are made
upon a selective basis where there is a lot of police discretion.
This roadside detention may be used as a pretext for searching the
car and its occupants. This practice deprives minority motorists of
their Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches
and seizures, and their right to be free from discriminations
based on race guaranteed under the Fourteenth Amendment
to the United States Constitution. Cases of racial profiling have
steadily increased as the war on drugs has intensified. The all-out
battle to keep drug traffickers
from transporting illegal substances has unfairly legitimized the
practice of racial profiling and the notion of many police officers
that Blacks, Hispanics, and other minorities are more likely to
possess drugs. Racial profiling has created a system that unfairly
infringes on the rights of innocent black and minority motorists.
Some of these traffic stops lead to arrests for drug possession or
other crimes; however, the concern arises in the number of
law-abiding minorities who are stopped on our roads every day so that
a few guilty people can be found.
The issue of racial profiling has gained national attention as charges
of racial profiling have been disclosed to the public. The recent
suit of racial profiling tiled against the State of New Jersey
(1999), further pushed the issue to the forefront. The complaint
filed in the U.S. District Court (United States of America v. State
of New Jersey & the Division of State Police of the New Jersey
Department of Law and Public Safety: Civil
 99-5970 MLC) against
the
State of New Jersey alleged a pattern or practice of conduct by
troopers of the State Police that deprived persons of lights,
privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution
and the laws of the United States, including the Fourteenth Amendment
and the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act. Furthermore, the


complainant alleged that this pattern or practice of conduct had been
made possible by the failure of the New Jersey State Police to adopt
and implement proper management practices and procedures. There has
been no systematic effort to either track statistics or establish
policy that deals directly with the issues of racial profiling in New
York State. In light of these circumstances and as incidences of
Racial Profiling continue to occur within the
State of New York, it has become paramount for New York to address
the issue of racial profiling before it further continues to
undermine the collaborative relationship between communities of color
and New York law enforcement officers. This legislation aims to
resolve the problem by prohibiting police officers from using racial
and ethnic profiling, by establishing policies and procedures to
collect data on racial and ethnic profiling and by establishing a
statewide public data base containing the collected data which will
promote law enforcement integrity as well as to promote community
support, particularly minority communities, for law enforcement
officers.

PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
S.7554 of 2008
04/11/08 REFERRED TO FINANCE
S.65 of 2009
01/07/09 REFERRED TO FINANCE
01/06/10 REFERRED TO FINANCE

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Related to the promulgation of regulations, the collection of data,
the publishing of an annual report and the establishment of the
public data base.

EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after is shall
have become a law.