I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 51 

To provide for the collection of data on traffic stops, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 6, 2015 

Ms. JACKSON LEE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To provide for the collection of data on traffic stops, 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. 

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

5 the Border Statistics Study Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ATTORNEY GENERAL 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 gather the following data on traf9 fic stops from a nationwide sample of jurisdictions, 

10 including jurisdictions identified in the initial anal11 ysis: 

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 indi21 vidual in the vehicle and whether any individual 

22 in the vehicle was turned over to immigration 

23 officials. 

24 (D) The number of stops conducted within 

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1 ico compared with the number of stops con2 ducted within 25 miles of the United States 

3 border with Canada. 

4 (E) The number of individuals in the 

5 stopped vehicle. 

6 (F) Whether a search was instituted as a 

7 result of the stop and whether consent was re8 quested for the search. 

9 (G) Any alleged criminal behavior by the 

10 driver that justified the search. 

11 (H) Any items seized, including contra12 band or money. 

13 (I) Whether any warning or citation was 

14 issued as a result of the stop. 

15 (J) Whether an arrest was made as a re16 sult of either the stop or the search and the 

17 justification for the arrest. 

18 (K) The duration of the stop. 

19 (b) REPORTING.— 

20 (1) INITIAL ANALYSIS.—Not later than 120 

21 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the At22 torney General shall report the results of the Attor23 ney General’s initial analysis under subsection (a)(2) 

24 to Congress and make such report available to the 


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1 public, and identify the jurisdictions for which the 

2 study is to be conducted. 

3 (2) DATA COLLECTION.—Not later than 2 years 

4 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney 

5 General shall report the results of the data collected 

6 under subsection (a)(3) to Congress, a copy of which 

7 shall also be published in the Federal Register. 

8 SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM. 

9 In order to complete the study described in section 

10 2, the Attorney General may provide grants to law en11 forcement agencies to collect and submit the data de12 scribed in section 2 to the appropriate agency as des13 ignated by the Attorney General. 

14 SEC. 4. LIMITATION ON USE OF DATA. 

15 Information released pursuant to section 2 shall not 

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

17 law enforcement officer involved in a traffic stop. 

18 SEC. 5. DEFINITION. 

19 For purposes of this Act, the term ‘‘law enforcement 

20 agency’’ means an agency of a State or political subdivi21 sion of a State, authorized by law or by a Federal, State, 

22 or local government agency to engage in or supervise the 

23 prevention, detection, or investigation of violations of 

24 criminal laws. 


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1 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 

3 as may be necessary to carry out this Act. 

Æ 


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