II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1670 

To eliminate racial profiling by law enforcement, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 6, 2011 

Mr. CARDIN (for himself, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. DURBIN, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, 

Mr. KERRY, Mr. LAUTENBERG, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. MENENDEZ, Ms. MIKULSKI, and Ms. STABENOW) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To eliminate racial profiling by law enforcement, and for 

other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘End Racial Profiling Act of 2011’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Definitions. 

TITLE I—PROHIBITION OF RACIAL PROFILING 

Sec. 101. Prohibition. 


emcdonald on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 1670 IS

Sec. 102. Enforcement. 

TITLE II—PROGRAMS TO ELIMINATE RACIAL PROFILING BY 

FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES 

Sec. 201. Policies to eliminate racial profiling. 

TITLE III—PROGRAMS TO ELIMINATE RACIAL PROFILING BY 

STATE, LOCAL, AND INDIAN TRIBAL LAW ENFORCEMENT 

AGENCIES 

Sec. 301. Policies required for grants. 

Sec. 302. Involvement of Attorney General. 

Sec. 303. Data collection demonstration project. 

Sec. 304. Best practices development grants. 

Sec. 305. Authorization of appropriations. 

TITLE IV—DATA COLLECTION 

Sec. 401. Attorney General to issue regulations. 

Sec. 402. Publication of data. 

Sec. 403. Limitations on publication of data. 

TITLE V—DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE REGULATIONS AND 

REPORTS ON RACIAL PROFILING IN THE UNITED STATES 

Sec. 501. Attorney General to issue regulations and reports. 

TITLE VI—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 

Sec. 601. Severability. 

Sec. 602. Savings clause. 

1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) COVERED PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘covered 

4 program’’ means any program or activity funded in 

5 whole or in part with funds made available under— 

6 (A) the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice 

7 Assistance Grant Program under part E of title 

8 I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

9 Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3750 et seq.); 

10 and 


emcdonald on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 1670 IS

1 (B) the ‘‘Cops on the Beat’’ program 

2 under part Q of title I of the Omnibus Crime 

3 Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 

4 U.S.C. 3796dd et seq.), except that no pro5 gram, project, or other activity specified in sec6 tion 1701(b)(13) of such part shall be a covered 

7 program under this paragraph. 

8 (2) GOVERNMENTAL BODY.—The term ‘‘govern9 mental body’’ means any department, agency, special 

10 purpose district, or other instrumentality of Federal, 

11 State, local, or Indian tribal government. 

12 (3) HIT RATE.—The term ‘‘hit rate’’ means the 

13 percentage of stops and searches in which a law en14 forcement officer finds drugs, a gun, or something 

15 else that leads to an arrest. The hit rate is cal16 culated by dividing the total number of searches by 

17 the number of searches that yield contraband. The 

18 hit rate is complementary to the rate of false stops. 

19 (4) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ 

20 has the meaning given the term in section 102 of the 

21 Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 

22 (25 U.S.C. 479a). 

23 (5) LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.—The term 

24 ‘‘law enforcement agency’’ means any Federal, 

25 State, local, or Indian tribal public agency engaged 


emcdonald on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 1670 IS

1 in the prevention, detection, or investigation of viola2 tions of criminal, immigration, or customs laws. 

3 (6) LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENT.—The term 

4 ‘‘law enforcement agent’’ means any Federal, State, 

5 local, or Indian tribal official responsible for enforc6 ing criminal, immigration, or customs laws, includ7 ing police officers and other agents of a law enforce8 ment agency. 

9 (7) RACIAL PROFILING.—The term ‘‘racial 

10 profiling’’ means the practice of a law enforcement 

11 agent or agency relying, to any degree, on race, eth12 nicity, national origin, or religion in selecting which 

13 individual to subject to routine or spontaneous inves14 tigatory activities or in deciding upon the scope and 

15 substance of law enforcement activity following the 

16 initial investigatory procedure, except when there is 

17 trustworthy information, relevant to the locality and 

18 timeframe, that links a person of a particular race, 

19 ethnicity, national origin, or religion to an identified 

20 criminal incident or scheme. 

21 (8) ROUTINE OR SPONTANEOUS INVESTIGATORY

22 ACTIVITIES.—The term ‘‘routine or spontaneous in23 vestigatory activities’’ means the following activities 

24 by a law enforcement agent: 

25 (A) Interviews. 


emcdonald on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 1670 IS

1 (B) Traffic stops. 

2 (C) Pedestrian stops. 

3 (D) Frisks and other types of body 

4 searches. 

5 (E) Consensual or nonconsensual searches 

6 of the persons, property, or possessions (includ7 ing vehicles) of individuals using any form of 

8 public or private transportation, including mo9 torists and pedestrians. 

10 (F) Data collection and analysis, assess11 ments, and predicated investigations. 

12 (G) Inspections and interviews of entrants 

13 into the United States that are more extensive 

14 than those customarily carried out. 

15 (H) Immigration-related workplace inves16 tigations. 

17 (I) Such other types of law enforcement 

18 encounters compiled for or by the Federal Bu19 reau of Investigation or the Department of Jus20 tice Bureau of Justice Statistics. 

21 (9) REASONABLE REQUEST.—The term ‘‘rea22 sonable request’’ means all requests for information, 

23 except for those that— 

24 (A) are immaterial to the investigation; 


emcdonald on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 1670 IS

1 (B) would result in the unnecessary disclo2 sure of personal information; or 

3 (C) would place a severe burden on the re4 sources of the law enforcement agency given its 

5 size. 

6 (10) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 

7 the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Com8 monwealth of Puerto Rico, and any other territory 

9 or possession of the United States. 

10 (11) UNIT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT.—The term 

11 ‘‘unit of local government’’ means— 

12 (A) any city, county, township, town, bor13 ough, parish, village, or other general purpose 

14 political subdivision of a State; 

15 (B) any law enforcement district or judicial 

16 enforcement district that— 

17 (i) is established under applicable 

18 State law; and 

19 (ii) has the authority to, in a manner 

20 independent of other State entities, estab21 lish a budget and impose taxes; or 

22 (C) any Indian tribe that performs law en23 forcement functions, as determined by the Sec24 retary of the Interior. 


emcdonald on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 1670 IS

1 TITLE I—PROHIBITION OF 

2 RACIAL PROFILING 

3 SEC. 101. PROHIBITION. 

4 No law enforcement agent or law enforcement agency 

5 shall engage in racial profiling. 

6 SEC. 102. ENFORCEMENT. 

7 (a) REMEDY.—The United States, or an individual 

8 injured by racial profiling, may enforce this title in a civil 

9 action for declaratory or injunctive relief, filed either in 

10 a State court of general jurisdiction or in a district court 

11 of the United States. 

12 (b) PARTIES.—In any action brought under this title, 

13 relief may be obtained against— 

14 (1) any governmental body that employed any 

15 law enforcement agent who engaged in racial 

16 profiling; 

17 (2) any agent of such body who engaged in ra18 cial profiling; and 

19 (3) any person with supervisory authority over 

20 such agent. 

21 (c) NATURE OF PROOF.—Proof that the routine or 

22 spontaneous investigatory activities of law enforcement 

23 agents in a jurisdiction have had a disparate impact on 

24 racial, ethnic, or religious minorities shall constitute prima 

25 facie evidence of a violation of this title. 


emcdonald on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
8 

•S 1670 IS

1 (d) ATTORNEY’S FEES.—In any action or proceeding 

2 to enforce this title against any governmental body, the 

3 court may allow a prevailing plaintiff, other than the 

4 United States, reasonable attorney’s fees as part of the 

5 costs, and may include expert fees as part of the attorney’s 

6 fee. 

7 TITLE II—PROGRAMS TO ELIMI8 NATE RACIAL PROFILING BY 

9 FEDERAL LAW ENFORCE10 MENT AGENCIES 

11 SEC. 201. POLICIES TO ELIMINATE RACIAL PROFILING. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Federal law enforcement agencies 

13 shall— 

14 (1) maintain adequate policies and procedures 

15 designed to eliminate racial profiling; and 

16 (2) cease existing practices that permit racial 

17 profiling. 

18 (b) POLICIES.—The policies and procedures de19 scribed in subsection (a)(1) shall include— 

20 (1) a prohibition on racial profiling; 

21 (2) training on racial profiling issues as part of 

22 Federal law enforcement training; 

23 (3) the collection of data in accordance with the 

24 regulations issued by the Attorney General under 

25 section 401; 


emcdonald on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
9 

•S 1670 IS

1 (4) procedures for receiving, investigating, and 

2 responding meaningfully to complaints alleging ra3 cial profiling by law enforcement agents; and 

4 (5) any other policies and procedures the Attor5 ney General determines to be necessary to eliminate 

6 racial profiling by Federal law enforcement agencies. 

7 TITLE III—PROGRAMS TO ELIMI8 NATE RACIAL PROFILING BY 

9 STATE, LOCAL, AND INDIAN 

10 TRIBAL LAW ENFORCEMENT 

11 AGENCIES 

12 SEC. 301. POLICIES REQUIRED FOR GRANTS. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—An application by a State, a unit 

14 of local government, or a State, local, or Indian tribal law 

15 enforcement agency for funding under a covered program 

16 shall include a certification that such State, unit of local 

17 government, or law enforcement agency, and any law en18 forcement agency to which it will distribute funds— 

19 (1) maintains adequate policies and procedures 

20 designed to eliminate racial profiling; and 

21 (2) has eliminated any existing practices that 

22 permit or encourage racial profiling. 

23 (b) POLICIES.—The policies and procedures de24 scribed in subsection (a)(1) shall include— 

25 (1) a prohibition on racial profiling; 


emcdonald on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
10 

•S 1670 IS

1 (2) training on racial profiling issues as part of 

2 law enforcement training; 

3 (3) the collection of data in accordance with the 

4 regulations issued by the Attorney General under 

5 section 401; and 

6 (4) participation in an administrative complaint 

7 procedure or independent audit program that meets 

8 the requirements of section 302. 

9 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take effect 

10 12 months after the date of enactment of this Act. 

11 SEC. 302. INVOLVEMENT OF ATTORNEY GENERAL. 

12 (a) REGULATIONS.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months 

14 after the date of enactment of this Act and in con15 sultation with stakeholders, including Federal, State, 

16 tribal, and local law enforcement agencies and com17 munity, professional, research, and civil rights orga18 nizations, the Attorney General shall issue regula19 tions for the operation of administrative complaint 

20 procedures and independent audit programs to en21 sure that such programs and procedures provide an 

22 appropriate response to allegations of racial profiling 

23 by law enforcement agents or agencies. 

24 (2) GUIDELINES.—The regulations issued 

25 under paragraph (1) shall contain guidelines that 


emcdonald on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
11 

•S 1670 IS

1 ensure the fairness, effectiveness, and independence 

2 of the administrative complaint procedures and inde3 pendent auditor programs. 

4 (b) NONCOMPLIANCE.—If the Attorney General de5 termines that the recipient of a grant from any covered 

6 program is not in compliance with the requirements of sec7 tion 301 or the regulations issued under subsection (a), 

8 the Attorney General shall withhold, in whole or in part 

9 (at the discretion of the Attorney General), funds for 1 

10 or more grants to the recipient under the covered pro11 gram, until the recipient establishes compliance. 

12 (c) PRIVATE PARTIES.—The Attorney General shall 

13 provide notice and an opportunity for private parties to 

14 present evidence to the Attorney General that a recipient 

15 of a grant from any covered program is not in compliance 

16 with the requirements of this title. 

17 SEC. 303. DATA COLLECTION DEMONSTRATION PROJECT. 

18 (a) COMPETITIVE AWARDS.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General may, 

20 through competitive grants or contracts, carry out a 

21 2-year demonstration project for the purpose of de22 veloping and implementing data collection programs 

23 on the hit rates for stops and searches by law en24 forcement agencies. The data collected shall be 


emcdonald on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
12 

•S 1670 IS

1 disaggregated by race, ethnicity, national origin, and 

2 religion. 

3 (2) NUMBER OF GRANTS.—The Attorney Gen4 eral shall provide not more than 5 grants or con5 tracts under this section. 

6 (3) ELIGIBLE GRANTEES.—Grants or contracts 

7 under this section shall be awarded to law enforce8 ment agencies that serve communities where there is 

9 a significant concentration of racial or ethnic minori10 ties and that are not already collecting data volun11 tarily. 

12 (b) REQUIRED ACTIVITIES.—Activities carried out 

13 with a grant under this section shall include— 

14 (1) developing a data collection tool and report15 ing the compiled data to the Attorney General; and 

16 (2) training of law enforcement personnel on 

17 data collection, particularly for data collection on hit 

18 rates for stops and searches. 

19 (c) EVALUATION.—Not later than 3 years after the 

20 date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall 

21 enter into a contract with an institution of higher edu22 cation (as defined in section 101 of the Higher Education 

23 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)) to analyze the data col24 lected by each of the grantees funded under this section. 


emcdonald on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
13 

•S 1670 IS

1 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out activities 

3 under this section— 

4 (1) $5,000,000, over a 2-year period, to carry 

5 out the demonstration program under subsection 

6 (a); and 

7 (2) $500,000 to carry out the evaluation under 

8 subsection (c). 

9 SEC. 304. BEST PRACTICES DEVELOPMENT GRANTS. 

10 (a) GRANT AUTHORIZATION.—The Attorney General, 

11 through the Bureau of Justice Assistance, may make 

12 grants to States, local law enforcement agencies, and units 

13 of local government to develop and implement best prac14 tice devices and systems to eliminate racial profiling. 

15 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—The funds provided under sub16 section (a) shall be used for programs that include the 

17 following purposes: 

18 (1) The development and implementation of 

19 training to prevent racial profiling and to encourage 

20 more respectful interaction with the public. 

21 (2) The acquisition and use of technology to fa22 cilitate the accurate collection and analysis of data. 

23 (3) The development and acquisition of feed24 back systems and technologies that identify officers 


emcdonald on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
14 

•S 1670 IS

1 or units of officers engaged in, or at risk of engag2 ing in, racial profiling or other misconduct. 

3 (4) The establishment and maintenance of an 

4 administrative complaint procedure or independent 

5 auditor program. 

6 (c) EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION.—The Attorney Gen7 eral shall ensure that grants under this section are award8 ed in a manner that reserves an equitable share of funding 

9 for small and rural law enforcement agencies. 

10 (d) APPLICATION.—Each State, local law enforce11 ment agency, or unit of local government desiring a grant 

12 under this section shall submit an application to the Attor13 ney General at such time, in such manner, and accom14 panied by such information as the Attorney General may 

15 reasonably require. 

16 SEC. 305. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

17 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 

18 as are necessary to carry out this title. 

19 TITLE IV—DATA COLLECTION 

20 SEC. 401. ATTORNEY GENERAL TO ISSUE REGULATIONS. 

21 (a) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 6 months after 

22 the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, 

23 in consultation with stakeholders, including Federal, 

24 State, and local law enforcement agencies and community, 

25 professional, research, and civil rights organizations, shall 


emcdonald on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
15 

•S 1670 IS

1 issue regulations for the collection and compilation of data 

2 under sections 201 and 301. 

3 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The regulations issued under 

4 subsection (a) shall— 

5 (1) provide for the collection of data on all rou6 tine or spontaneous investigatory activities; 

7 (2) provide that the data collected shall— 

8 (A) be collected by race, ethnicity, national 

9 origin, gender, and religion, as perceived by the 

10 law enforcement officer; 

11 (B) include the date, time, and location of 

12 such investigatory activities; 

13 (C) include detail sufficient to permit an 

14 analysis of whether a law enforcement agency is 

15 engaging in racial profiling; and 

16 (D) not include personally identifiable in17 formation; 

18 (3) provide that a standardized form shall be 

19 made available to law enforcement agencies for the 

20 submission of collected data to the Department of 

21 Justice; 

22 (4) provide that law enforcement agencies shall 

23 compile data on the standardized form made avail24 able under paragraph (3), and submit the form to 


emcdonald on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
16 

•S 1670 IS

1 the Civil Rights Division and the Department of 

2 Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics; 

3 (5) provide that law enforcement agencies shall 

4 maintain all data collected under this Act for not 

5 less than 4 years; 

6 (6) include guidelines for setting comparative 

7 benchmarks, consistent with best practices, against 

8 which collected data shall be measured; 

9 (7) provide that the Department of Justice Bu10 reau of Justice Statistics shall— 

11 (A) analyze the data for any statistically 

12 significant disparities, including— 

13 (i) disparities in the percentage of 

14 drivers or pedestrians stopped relative to 

15 the proportion of the population passing 

16 through the neighborhood; 

17 (ii) disparities in the hit rate; and 

18 (iii) disparities in the frequency of 

19 searches performed on minority drivers 

20 and the frequency of searches performed 

21 on non-minority drivers; and 

22 (B) not later than 3 years after the date 

23 of enactment of this Act, and annually there24 after— 


emcdonald on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
17 

•S 1670 IS

1 (i) prepare a report regarding the 

2 findings of the analysis conducted under 

3 subparagraph (A); 

4 (ii) provide such report to Congress; 

5 and 

6 (iii) make such report available to the 

7 public, including on a website of the De8 partment of Justice; and 

9 (8) protect the privacy of individuals whose 

10 data is collected by— 

11 (A) limiting the use of the data collected 

12 under this Act to the purposes set forth in this 

13 Act; 

14 (B) except as otherwise provided in this 

15 Act, limiting access to the data collected under 

16 this Act to those Federal, State, local, or tribal 

17 employees or agents who require such access in 

18 order to fulfill the purposes for the data set 

19 forth in this Act; 

20 (C) requiring contractors or other non-gov21 ernmental agents who are permitted access to 

22 the data collected under this Act to sign use 

23 agreements incorporating the use and disclosure 

24 restrictions set forth in subparagraph (A); and 


emcdonald on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
18 

•S 1670 IS

1 (D) requiring the maintenance of adequate 

2 security measures to prevent unauthorized ac3 cess to the data collected under this Act. 

4 SEC. 402. PUBLICATION OF DATA. 

5 The Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statis6 tics shall provide to Congress and make available to the 

7 public, together with each annual report described in sec8 tion 401, the data collected pursuant to this Act, excluding 

9 any personally identifiable information described in section 

10 403. 

11 SEC. 403. LIMITATIONS ON PUBLICATION OF DATA. 

12 The name or identifying information of a law enforce13 ment officer, complainant, or any other individual involved 

14 in any activity for which data is collected and compiled 

15 under this Act shall not be— 

16 (1) released to the public; 

17 (2) disclosed to any person, except for— 

18 (A) such disclosures as are necessary to 

19 comply with this Act; 

20 (B) disclosures of information regarding a 

21 particular person to that person; or 

22 (C) disclosures pursuant to litigation; or 

23 (3) subject to disclosure under section 552 of 

24 title 5, United States Code (commonly know as the 

25 Freedom of Information Act), except for disclosures 


emcdonald on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
19 

•S 1670 IS

1 of information regarding a particular person to that 

2 person. 

3 TITLE V—DEPARTMENT OF JUS4 TICE REGULATIONS AND RE5 PORTS ON RACIAL 

6 PROFILING IN THE UNITED 

7 STATES 

8 SEC. 501. ATTORNEY GENERAL TO ISSUE REGULATIONS 

9 AND REPORTS. 

10 (a) REGULATIONS.—In addition to the regulations re11 quired under sections 303 and 401, the Attorney General 

12 shall issue such other regulations as the Attorney General 

13 determines are necessary to implement this Act. 

14 (b) REPORTS.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after 

16 the date of enactment of this Act, and annually 

17 thereafter, the Attorney General shall submit to 

18 Congress a report on racial profiling by law enforce19 ment agencies. 

20 (2) SCOPE.—Each report submitted under 

21 paragraph (1) shall include— 

22 (A) a summary of data collected under sec23 tions 201(b)(3) and 301(b)(3) and from any 

24 other reliable source of information regarding 

25 racial profiling in the United States; 


emcdonald on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
20 

•S 1670 IS

1 (B) a discussion of the findings in the 

2 most recent report prepared by the Department 

3 of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics under 

4 section 401(b)(7); 

5 (C) the status of the adoption and imple6 mentation of policies and procedures by Federal 

7 law enforcement agencies under section 201 

8 and by the State and local law enforcement 

9 agencies under sections 301 and 302; and 

10 (D) a description of any other policies and 

11 procedures that the Attorney General believes 

12 would facilitate the elimination of racial 

13 profiling. 

14 TITLE VI—MISCELLANEOUS 

15 PROVISIONS 

16 SEC. 601. SEVERABILITY. 

17 If any provision of this Act, or the application of such 

18 a provision to any person or circumstance, is held to be 

19 unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act and the appli20 cation of the remaining provisions of this Act to any per21 son or circumstance shall not be affected thereby. 

22 SEC. 602. SAVINGS CLAUSE. 

23 Nothing in this Act shall be construed— 

24 (1) to limit legal or administrative remedies 

25 under section 1979 of the Revised Statutes of the 


emcdonald on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
21 

•S 1670 IS

1 United States (42 U.S.C. 1983), section 210401 of 

2 the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement 

3 Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 14141), the Omnibus Crime 

4 Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 

5 3701 et seq.), or title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 

6 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.); 

7 (2) to affect any Federal, State, or tribal law 

8 that applies to an Indian tribe because of the polit9 ical status of the tribe; or 

10 (3) to waive the sovereign immunity of an In11 dian tribe without the consent of the tribe. 

Æ 


emcdonald on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS