II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 821

To provide for the collection of data on traffic stops.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

APRIL 15, 1999

Mr. LAUTENBERG (for himself, Mr. FEINGOLD, Mr. KENNEDY, and Mr.

TORRICELLI) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To provide for the collection of data on traffic stops.

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.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Traffic Stops Statistics

5 Study Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. ATTORNEY GENERAL TO CONDUCT STUDY.

7 (a) STUDY.—

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall

9 conduct a nationwide study of stops for traffic viola10 tions by law enforcement officers.
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1 (2) INITIAL ANALYSIS.—The Attorney General

2 shall perform an initial analysis of existing data, in3 cluding complaints alleging and other information

4 concerning traffic stops motivated by race and other

5 bias.

6 (3) DATA COLLECTION.—After completion of

7 the initial analysis under paragraph (2), the Attor8 ney General shall then gather the following data on

9 traffic stops from a nationwide sample of jurisdic10 tions, including jurisdictions identified in the initial

11 analysis:

12 (A) The traffic infraction alleged to have

13 been committed that led to the stop.

14 (B) Identifying characteristics of the driver

15 stopped, including the race, gender, ethnicity,

16 and approximate age of the driver.

17 (C) Whether immigration status was ques18 tioned, immigration documents were requested,

19 or an inquiry was made to the Immigration and

20 Naturalization Service with regard to any per21 son in the vehicle.

22 (D) The number of individuals in the

23 stopped vehicle.
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1 (E) Whether a search was instituted as a

2 result of the stop and whether consent was re3 quested for the search.

4 (F) Any alleged criminal behavior by the

5 driver that justified the search.

6 (G) Any items seized, including contraband

7 or money.

8 (H) Whether any warning or citation was

9 issued as a result of the stop.

10 (I) Whether an arrest was made as a re11 sult of either the stop or the search and the

12 justification for the arrest.

13 (J) The duration of the stop.

14 (b) REPORTING.—Not later than 120 days after the

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

16 report the results of its initial analysis to Congress, and

17 make such report available to the public, and identify the

18 jurisdictions for which the study is to be conducted. Not

19 later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this

20 Act, the Attorney General shall report the results of the

21 data collected under this Act to Congress, a copy of which

22 shall also be published in the Federal Register.

23 SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM.

24 In order to complete the study described in section

25 2, the Attorney General may provide grants to law en-
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1 forcement agencies to collect and submit the data de2 scribed in section 2 to the appropriate agency as des3 ignated by the Attorney General.

4 SEC. 4. LIMITATION ON USE OF DATA.

5 Information released pursuant to section 2 shall not

6 reveal the identity of any individual who is stopped or any

7 law enforcement officer involved in a traffic stop.

8 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

9 For purposes of this Act:

10 (1) LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.—The term

11 ‘‘law enforcement agency’’ means an agency of a

12 State or political subdivision of a State, authorized

13 by law or by a Federal, State, or local government

14 agency to engage in or supervise the prevention, de15 tection, or investigation of violations of criminal

16 laws, or a federally recognized Indian tribe.

17 (2) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’

18 means any Indian or Alaska Native tribe, band, na19 tion, pueblo, village, or community that the Sec20 retary of the Interior acknowledges to exist as an In21 dian tribe.

22 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

23 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums

24 as may be necessary to carry out this Act.

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