Groups Seek Data on Race-Based Police Stops

After receiving nearly 1,000 calls so far, the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California is launching a statewide campaign to alert motorists to its 6-month-old “Driving While Black or Brown” hotline number.

The hotline takes complaints from African American or Latino drivers who believe they were stopped, and perhaps even searched, by law enforcement officials because of their race.

Data from the hotline will be used to urge support of state legislation requiring the collection of data on the race of persons pulled over by law enforcement officials and the reasons for the stop, ACLU officials said.

“It is time to learn the facts so we can begin to address what most of us believe to be true,” ACLU Executive Director Ramona Ripston said, flanked by former O.J. Simpson prosecutor Christopher Darden, during a press conference Thursday in Los Angeles. “Too many police officers are treating people of color as suspects and not as individuals.”

More than 70% of the calls received by the hotline since October came from residents of Southern California, Ripston said, lending urgency to the collection of such data in this region.

Senate Bill 78, introduced by state Sen. Kevin Murray (D-Culver City), would require that data on race and traffic stops be collected by law enforcement agencies and reported to the state Department of Justice. Murray introduced a similar bill last year, but it was vetoed by then Gov. Pete Wilson (R), who objected that it would cost too much to implement.

Murray, on hand at Thursday’s press conference, cited the San Jose and San Diego police departments as examples of agencies that are voluntarily willing to make the investment in collecting data on stops. The two departments already require officers to fill out reports that provide information on motorists given traffic citations. Gathering race data would be a small extra step, he said.

“It’s not this expensive cost factor,” Murray said. “I think it’s a good investment.” The San Diego Police Department just launched a pilot program that has a handful of its motorcycle officers carrying hand-held computers and recording such data as the reason a motorist was pulled over, his or her race and ethnicity, whether the person was searched and whether any contraband was recovered.

Pat Drummy, a supervising crime analyst at the agency, said the San Diego Police Chief Jerry Sanders believes that “we as an organization have nothing to hide.”

The San Jose Police Department similarly announced last month it would start collecting information on traffic stops. Its chief, William Lansdowne, wanted to respond to the community’s perception that people of color are stopped because of their race, according to Officer Rubens Dalaison.

“He wanted to show we don’t do business that way,” Dalaison said.

Los Angeles Police Department Chief Bernard Parks did not respond to inquiries about his position on voluntary collection of racial data. He opposed the move last year.

The campaign includes English- and Spanish-language radio ads and billboards publicizing the hotline.

The hotline number for English speakers is 1-877-DWB-STOP; and 1-877-PARALOS for Spanish speakers.