I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 73 

To provide for the collection of data on traffic stops. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 6, 2009 

Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas 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. 

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 2009’’. 

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. 

11 (2) INITIAL ANALYSIS.—The Attorney General 

12 shall perform an initial analysis of existing data, inVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:03 Jan 09, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H73.IH H73

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1 cluding complaints alleging, and other information 

2 concerning, traffic stops motivated by race and other 

3 bias. 

4 (3) DATA COLLECTION.—After completion of 

5 the initial analysis under paragraph (2), the Attor6 ney General shall gather the following data on traf7 fic stops from a nationwide sample of jurisdictions, 

8 including jurisdictions identified in the initial anal9 ysis: 

10 (A) The traffic infraction alleged to have 

11 been committed that led to the stop. 

12 (B) Identifying characteristics of the driver 

13 stopped, including the race, gender, ethnicity, 

14 and approximate age of the driver. 

15 (C) Whether immigration status was ques16 tioned, immigration documents were requested, 

17 or an inquiry was made to the Immigration and 

18 Naturalization Service with regard to any indi19 vidual in the vehicle and whether any individual 

20 in the vehicle was turned over to immigration 

21 officials. 

22 (D) The number of stops conducted within 

23 25 miles of the United States border with Mex24 ico compared with the number of stops conVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:03 Jan 09, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H73.IH H73

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1 ducted within 25 miles of the United States 

2 border with Canada. 

3 (E) The number of individuals in the 

4 stopped vehicle. 

5 (F) Whether a search was instituted as a 

6 result of the stop and whether consent was re7 quested for the search. 

8 (G) Any alleged criminal behavior by the 

9 driver that justified the search. 

10 (H) Any items seized, including contra11 band or money. 

12 (I) Whether any warning or citation was 

13 issued as a result of the stop. 

14 (J) Whether an arrest was made as a re15 sult of either the stop or the search and the 

16 justification for the arrest. 

17 (K) The duration of the stop. 

18 (b) REPORTING.— 

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

20 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the At21 torney General shall report the results of its initial 

22 analysis under subsection (a)(2) to Congress and 

23 make such report available to the public, and iden24 tify the jurisdictions for which the study is to be 

25 conducted. 


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

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

3 General shall report the results of the data collected 

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

5 shall also be published in the Federal Register. 

6 SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM. 

7 In order to complete the study described in section 

8 2, the Attorney General may provide grants to law en9 forcement agencies to collect and submit the data de10 scribed in section 2 to the appropriate agency as des11 ignated by the Attorney General. 

12 SEC. 4. LIMITATION ON USE OF DATA. 

13 Information released pursuant to section 2 shall not 

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

15 law enforcement officer involved in a traffic stop. 

16 SEC. 5. DEFINITION. 

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

18 agency’’ means an agency of a State or political subdivi19 sion of a State, authorized by law or by a Federal, State, 

20 or local government agency to engage in or supervise the 

21 prevention, detection, or investigation of violations of 

22 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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