Approved by the Legislative Commissioner

May 23, 2003

AN ACT CONCERNING THE ALVIN W. PENN RACIAL PROFILING PROHIBITION ACT.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. Section 54-1m of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage) :

(a) Not later than January 1, 2000, each municipal police department and the Department of Public Safety shall adopt a written policy that prohibits the stopping, detention or search of any person when such action is solely motivated by considerations of race, color, ethnicity, age, gender or sexual orientation, and the action would constitute a violation of the civil rights of the person.

(b) Commencing on January 1, 2000, each municipal police department and the Department of Public Safety shall, using the form developed and promulgated pursuant to subsection (i) of this section, record and retain the following information: (1) The number of persons stopped for traffic violations; (2) characteristics of race, color, ethnicity, gender and age of such persons, provided the identification of such characteristics shall be based on the observation and perception of the police officer responsible for reporting the stop and the information shall not be required to be provided by the person stopped; (3) the nature of the alleged traffic violation that resulted in the stop; (4) whether a warning or citation was issued, an arrest made or a search conducted as a result of the stop; and (5) any additional information that such municipal police department or the Department of Public Safety, as the case may be, deems appropriate, provided such information does not include any other identifying information about any person stopped for a traffic violation such as the person's operator's license number, name or address.

(c) Each municipal police department and the Department of Public Safety shall provide to the Chief State's Attorney and the African-American Affairs Commission (1) a copy of each complaint received pursuant to subsections (a) to (h) , inclusive, of this section, and (2) written notification of the review and disposition of such complaint. No such complaint shall contain any other identifying information about the complainant such as his or her operator's license number, name or address.

(d) Any police officer who in good faith records traffic stop information pursuant to the requirements of subsections (a) to (h) , inclusive, of this section shall not be held civilly liable for the act of recording such information unless the officer's conduct was unreasonable or reckless.

(e) If a municipal police department or the Department of Public Safety fails to comply with the provisions of subsections (a) to (h) , inclusive, of this section, the Chief State's Attorney may recommend and the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management may order an appropriate penalty in the form of the withholding of state funds from such department or the Department of Public Safety.

(f) On or before October 1, 2000, and annually thereafter, each municipal police department and the Department of Public Safety shall provide to the Chief State's Attorney and the African-American Affairs Commission, in such form as the Chief State's Attorney shall prescribe, a summary report of the information recorded pursuant to subsection (b) of this section.

(g) The [Chief State's Attorney shall, within the limits of existing appropriations, provide for a] African-American Affairs Commission shall review [of] the prevalence and disposition of traffic stops and complaints reported pursuant to subsections (a) to (h) , inclusive, of this section. Not later than January 1, [2002] 2004, and annually thereafter, the [Chief State's Attorney] African-American Affairs Commission shall report to the Governor, [and] the General Assembly and to any other entity said commission deems appropriate the results of such review, including any recommendations.

[(h) The provisions of subsections (f) and (g) of this section shall be in effect from October 1, 1999, until January 1, 2003.]

[(i) ] (h) Not later than January 1, 2000, the Chief State's Attorney, in conjunction with the Commissioner of Public Safety, the Attorney General, the Chief Court Administrator, the Police Officer Standards and Training Council, the Connecticut Police Chiefs Association and the Connecticut Coalition of Police and Correctional Officers, shall develop and promulgate: (1) A form, in both printed and electronic format, to be used by police officers when making a traffic stop to record [personal identifying information about] the race, color, ethnicity, gender and age of the operator of the motor vehicle that is stopped, the location of the stop, the reason for the stop and other information that is required to be recorded pursuant to subsection (b) of this section; and (2) a form, in both printed and electronic format, to be used to report complaints pursuant to subsections (a) to (h) , inclusive, of this section by persons who believe they have been subjected to a motor vehicle stop by a police officer solely on the basis of their race, color, ethnicity, age, gender or sexual orientation.

Sec. 2. Section 54-1l of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage) :

(a) This section and section 54-1m, as amended by this act, shall be known as the "Alvin W. Penn Racial Profiling Prohibition Act".

[(a) ] (b) For the purposes of this section, "racial profiling" means the detention, interdiction or other disparate treatment of an individual solely on the basis of the racial or ethnic status of such individual.

[(b) ] (c) No member of the Division of State Police within the Department of Public Safety, a municipal police department or any other law enforcement agency shall engage in racial profiling. The detention of an individual based on any noncriminal factor or combination of noncriminal factors is inconsistent with this policy.

[(c) ] (d) The race or ethnicity of an individual shall not be the sole factor in determining the existence of probable cause to place in custody or arrest an individual or in constituting a reasonable and articulable suspicion that an offense has been or is being committed so as to justify the detention of an individual or the investigatory stop of a motor vehicle.

The following fiscal impact statement and bill analysis are prepared for the benefit of members of the General Assembly, solely for the purpose of information, summarization, and explanation, and do not represent the intent of the General Assembly or either House thereof for any purpose:

OFA Fiscal Note

State Impact:

Note: GF=General Fund

Municipal Impact: None

Explanation

By January 1, 2004 and annually thereafter, the African-American Commission must review and report to the Governor and to the General Assembly results of traffic stops and complaints. The bill also names general statutes Sections 54-1l (Prohibition Against Racial Profiling) and 54-1m (Adoption of Policy Prohibiting Certain Police Actions. Data Collection and Reporting) , the Alvin W. Penn Racial Profiling Prohibition Act.

Any workload increase experienced by the African-American Commission can be handled by staff without the need for an additional appropriation.

House “A” which makes the substantive changes mentioned above and other technical changes will have no fiscal impact.

OLR Bill Analysis

sHB 5674 (as amended by House “A”) *

AN ACT CONCERNING RACIAL PROFILING

SUMMARY:

This bill requires local police departments and the State Police to give annual traffic stop reports to the African-American Affairs Commission (AAAC) pursuant to the racial profiling law. It also reinstates the requirement (which was in effect until January 1, 2003) to give annual reports to the chief state’s attorney. It requires the AAAC to (1) review the traffic stop data and (2) annually, beginning January 1, 2004, report its review results and recommendations to the governor, legislature, and other entities it deems appropriate. (A provision requiring the chief state’s attorney to conduct the reviews and provide one report expired in January 2003.)

The bill bars police from recording, in traffic-stop forms and complaints about discriminatory stops, certain personally identifying information about people stopped. This includes the person’s driver’s license number, name, or address. The bill does not affect the recording of non-personally identifying characteristics such as age, race, color, ethnicity, and gender, which current law requires.

It names the law that bans racial profiling “The Alvin Penn Racial Profiling Prohibition Act.”

*House Amendment “A” (1) requires that police give traffic stop data to the AAAC and chief state’s attorney instead of the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities (CHRO) , (2) requires AAAC to review data and provide reports, (3) bars the police from recording certain personally identifying information, and (4) names the law after the late Senator Alvin Penn.

EFFECTIVE DATE: Upon passage

BACKGROUND

Racial Profiling Law and Traffic Stop Data

This law prohibits police and law enforcement agencies from engaging in racial profiling, defined as the detention, interdiction, or other disparate treatment of someone solely because of his race or ethnicity. It requires the State Police and local police departments to adopt written policies that prohibit race-based traffic stops. The law requires them to collect and record the following traffic stop data:

1. the number and identifying characteristics (age, race, color, ethnicity, and gender) of people stopped for traffic violations;

2. the alleged traffic violation that led to the stop;

3. whether any arrest was made, search conducted, or warning or citation issued; and

4. additional information police consider appropriate.

Originally, the law required police to give the chief state's attorney this information along with copies of complaints they get about discriminatory stops and written notices of the reviews and dispositions.

The provision requiring police to give traffic-stop data to the chief state's attorney is no longer in effect. Also no longer in effect is the provision requiring the chief state's attorney, within existing appropriations, to (1) review the data on traffic stops and complaints to determine the prevalence and disposition of discriminatory stops and related complaints and (2) report his review results, including recommendations, to the governor and legislature by January 1, 2002. Both provisions were in effect until January 2003.

Racial Profiling Study

In December 2001, the chief state’s attorney published the racial profiling report required by law, based on July 1, 2000 through June 30, 2001 data.

Legislative History

On April 9, the House referred the bill to the Appropriations Committee, which deleted a requirement in the original bill for CHRO to seek funding to analyze the data it gets from the chief state’s attorney and make recommendations based on the analysis.

COMMITTEE ACTION

Public Safety Committee

Joint Favorable Substitute

Appropriations Committee

Joint Favorable Substitute