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107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1778

To provide for the collection of data on traffic stops.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 9, 2001

Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas (for herself and Ms. CARSON of Indiana) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 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 2001’’.

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 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

25 25 miles of the United States border with Mex-
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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.—Not later than 120 days after the

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

21 shall report the results of its initial analysis to Congress,

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

23 the jurisdictions for which the study is to be conducted.

24 Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment

25 of this Act, the Attorney General shall report the results
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1 of the data collected under this Act to Congress, a copy

2 of which shall also be published in the Federal Register.

3 SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM.

4 In order to complete the study described in section

5 2, the Attorney General may provide grants to law en6 forcement agencies to collect and submit the data de7 scribed in section 2 to the appropriate agency as des8 ignated by the Attorney General.

9 SEC. 4. LIMITATION ON USE OF DATA.

10 Information released pursuant to section 2 shall not

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

12 law enforcement officer involved in a traffic stop.

13 SEC. 5. DEFINITION.

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

15 agency’’ means an agency of a State or political subdivi16 sion of a State, authorized by law or by a Federal, State,

17 or local government agency to engage in or supervise the

18 prevention, detection, or investigation of violations of

19 criminal laws.

20 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

21 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums

22 as may be necessary to carry out this Act.

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