A new state law that took effect Jan. 1 requires police officers to take down information to determine if they pull over minority drivers more often.
It might take only five minutes longer for police to collect data while making a traffic stop, but it could take up to four years for Northwestern to crunch those numbers.
The law requires officers to take down a person’s name, perceived race, type of car, where and why the person was pulled over and if the car was searched. NU’s Center for Public Safety will analyze the data and publish annual reports starting in 2005 for the next four years.
Police officials said they hope the results of the study will prove what they’ve been asserting all along — that police don’t target people based on race. But they said the mechanics of the unfunded state mandate are problematic, calling the law vague and confusing.
Although the bill was signed into law last July, the Illinois Department of Transportation has changed its official checklist several times, said Deputy Chief Dennis Nilsson of Evanston Police Department. Both EPD and University Police use their own checklists.
“The data are going to show there isn’t racial profiling,” Nilsson said.
Although some police departments across the state scrambled to adhere to the new mandate, EPD began training officers on the new law in October, Nilsson said.
“We didn’t wait,” Nilsson said. “We knew how the law read. We knew some of the challenges other agencies had. I think the officers were well-equipped and well-prepared January 1 when the law came into effect.”
The Center for Public Safety previously analyzed data for other communities and found race did not appear to influence traffic stops.
Despite complaints about the extra time and paperwork the law requires, departments might be glad they collected the information, said Kellogg Graduate School of Management Prof. Alexander Weiss, director of the center.
“It’s relatively easy to make allegations of racial profiling,” Weiss said. “A substantial proportion of the community thinks it is going on. Police said they were not doing it but had no data to refute it.”
Evanston-North Shore NAACP president George Mitchell said the new law is a step in the right direction, but it doesn’t go far enough.
“When the data is collected what are they going to do with it?” he asked. “The only problem I have is that people who are doing the data collection are also the ones doing the apprehending.”
Mitchell added he didn’t expect police to be dishonest in their reporting — but he said he does want them to be accountable to the communities they serve.
“If you are a male of color in this country you know what racial profiling is,” Mitchell said. “People in the African-American community want aggressive policing, but they don’t want to be bullied.”
No matter what the outcome of the study, Asst. Chief Daniel McAleer of UP said the extra effort will only benefit departments.
“Officers have more paperwork to do,” McAleer said. “But if it reveals problems in law enforcement or educates the community that it isn’t a problem in law enforcement, then it is worth it.”
