HBA-SEP C.S.H.B. 2458 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 2458
By: Thompson
Criminal Jurisprudence
4/1/2001
Committee Report (Substituted)



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Many minority motorists across the country have been treated differently
than nonminority motorists when stopped by law enforcement officers. The
federal government is considering and several states have undertaken
measures aimed at preventing racial profiling by law enforcement officers.
A recent Department of Public Safety study found that African-American and
Hispanic motorists were more likely than Caucasian motorists to be
subjected to searches after being stopped by a state trooper. Current law
does not contain provisions specifically targeted toward reducing or
eliminating racial profiling as a law enforcement practice. C.S.H.B. 2458
creates provisions for the reporting of traffic stops by peace officers,
the analysis and review of these reports by the appropriate authorities,
the prohibition of pretext search and seizures, and procedures for a law
enforcement agency that determines an officer has violated these
provisions.  

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 2458 amends the Code of Criminal Procedure and Occupation and
Transportation codes relating to the prevention of racial profiling by
certain peace officers.  The bill amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to
require each law enforcement agency to adopt and implement a written policy
on racial profiling not later than January 1, 2002.  The bill sets forth
policy specifications including the prohibition of racial profiling; the
required collection and quarterly evaluation of information relating to
traffic stops in which a citation is issued or an arrest made and the
person's race or ethnicity and whether a search was conducted; and the
required submission, to the governing body of each county or municipality,
of an annual report of the information collected.  Such a report is
prohibited from containing information about a peace officer who makes a
traffic stop or an individual who is stopped or arrested.  On adoption of
the policy, a law enforcement agency is required to examine the feasibility
of installing video camera and voice activated microphone equipment in each
agency law enforcement motor vehicle regularly used to make traffic stops.
If a law enforcement agency installs such equipment, the policy must
include standards for reviewing video and audio documentation (Art. 2.132).

The bill requires a peace officer who stops a motor vehicle for an alleged
violation of a traffic law or ordinance or who stops a pedestrian for any
suspected offense to report to the law enforcement agency that employs the
officer certain information relating to the stop including a physical
description of each detained person (Art. 2.133).  A law enforcement agency
is required to compile and analyze the information contained in each report
and, not later than March 1 of each year beginning in 2004, submit a report
containing the information compiled during the previous calendar year to
the governing body of each county or municipality served by the agency.
The bill sets forth specifications for the report.  The report is
prohibited from containing information about a peace officer who makes a
traffic stop or an individual who is stopped or arrested.  The Commission
on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education is required to develop
guidelines for compiling and reporting the required information (Art.
2.134).    

The bill exempts a peace officer from reporting information concerning
traffic and pedestrian stops and exempts a law enforcement agency from the
compilation, analysis, and reporting requirements if, during the calendar
year preceding the date that a report is required to be submitted, each law
enforcement motor vehicle regularly used to make traffic and pedestrian
stops is equipped with video camera and voice activated microphone
equipment and each stop that is capable of being recorded is recorded.
Unless a complaint is filed with a law enforcement agency alleging that a
peace officer has engaged in racial profiling, an exempt law enforcement
agency is required to retain the video and audio or audio documentation of
each traffic or pedestrian stop for at least 90 days after the stop.  If
such a complaint is made, the agency is required to retain the video and
audio or audio record of the stop until the final disposition of the
complaint (Art. 2.135).  The bill provides that a peace officer is not
liable for damages arising from an act relating to the collection or
reporting of information under reports required for traffic and pedestrian
stops (Art. 2.136). 

The bill amends the Education Code to require, as part of the initial
training and continuing education for police chiefs and not later than
January 1, 2002, the Bill Blackwood Law Enforcement Management Institute of
Texas to establish a program on racial profiling.  The program must include
an examination of the best practices for monitoring peace officers'
compliance with laws and internal agency policies relating to racial
profiling, implementing laws and internal agency policies relating to
preventing racial profiling, and analyzing and reporting collected
information (Sec. 96.641).  An individual appointed or elected as a police
chief is required to complete the racial profiling program by September 1,
2003 (SECTION 11). 

The bill amends the Occupations Code to require the Commission on Law
Enforcement Officer Standards and Education, as part of the minimum
curriculum requirements, to establish, not later than January 1, 2002, a
statewide comprehensive education and training program on racial profiling
for licensed law enforcement officers.  An officer is required to complete
such a program not later than the second anniversary of the date the
officer becomes a licensed law enforcement officer or the date the officer
applies for an intermediate proficiency certificate, whichever date is
earlier (Secs. 1701.253 and 1701.402).  

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2001.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE

C.S.H.B. 2458 modifies the original by providing that "race or ethnicity"
means of a particular decent, including Caucasian, African, Hispanic,
Asian, or Native American descent (Art. 2.132, Code of Criminal Procedure;
and Sec. 543.202, Transportation Code).   The substitute specifies that
each law enforcement motor vehicle equipped with video camera and voice
activated microphone equipment record each traffic and pedestrian stop that
is capable of being recorded (Art. 2.135, Code of Criminal Procedure).  The
substitute requires the Bill Blackwood Law Enforcement Management Institute
of Texas to establish a program on racial profiling and sets forth program
specifications (Sec. 96.641, Education Code).