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106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1443

To provide for the collection of data on traffic stops.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 15, 1999

Mr. CONYERS (for himself, Mr. MENENDEZ, Ms. WATERS, Mr. SCOTT, Ms.

JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. NADLER, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. WEINER, Mr.

CUMMINGS, Mr. MEEKS of New York, Mr. HILLIARD, Mr. FARR of California, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. DIXON, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr.

BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. CLAY, Mr. BARRETT of Wisconsin, Mrs. CLAYTON, and Mrs. JONES of Ohio) 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 Statistics

5 Study Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. ATTORNEY GENERAL TO CONDUCT STUDY.

7 (a) STUDY.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall

2 conduct a nationwide study of stops for traffic viola3 tions by law enforcement officers.

4 (2) INITIAL ANALYSIS.—The Attorney General

5 shall perform an initial analysis of existing data, in6 cluding complaints alleging and other information

7 concerning traffic stops motivated by race and other

8 bias.

9 (3) DATA COLLECTION.—After completion of

10 the initial analysis under paragraph (2), the Attor11 ney General shall then gather the following data on

12 traffic stops from a nationwide sample of jurisdic13 tions, including jurisdictions identified in the initial

14 analysis:

15 (A) The traffic infraction alleged to have

16 been committed that led to the stop.

17 (B) Identifying characteristics of the driver

18 stopped, including the race, gender, ethnicity,

19 and approximate age of the driver.

20 (C) Whether immigration status was ques21 tioned, immigration documents were requested,

22 or an inquiry was made to the Immigration and

23 Naturalization Service with regard to any per24 son in the vehicle.
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1 (D) The number of individuals in the

2 stopped vehicle.

3 (E) Whether a search was instituted as a

4 result of the stop and whether consent was re5 quested for the search.

6 (F) Any alleged criminal behavior by the

7 driver that justified the search.

8 (G) Any items seized, including contraband

9 or money.

10 (H) Whether any warning or citation was

11 issued as a result of the stop.

12 (I) Whether an arrest was made as a re13 sult of either the stop or the search and the

14 justification for the arrest.

15 (J) The duration of the stop.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

24 shall also be published in the Federal Register.
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1 SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM.

2 In order to complete the study described in section

3 2, the Attorney General may provide grants to law en4 forcement agencies to collect and submit the data de5 scribed in section 2 to the appropriate agency as des6 ignated by the Attorney General.

7 SEC. 4. LIMITATION ON USE OF DATA.

8 Information released pursuant to section 2 shall not

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

10 law enforcement officer involved in a traffic stop.

11 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

12 For purposes of this Act:

13 (1) LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.—The term

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

15 State or political subdivision of a State, authorized

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

17 agency to engage in or supervise the prevention, de18 tection, or investigation of violations of criminal

19 laws, or a federally recognized Indian tribe.

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

21 means any Indian or Alaska Native tribe, band, na22 tion, pueblo, village, or community that the Sec23 retary of the Interior acknowledges to exist as an In24 dian tribe.
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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.

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