I
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 Cali-
fornia, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. DIXON, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr.
BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. CLAY, Mr. BAR-
RETT 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.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Traffic Stops Statistics
Study Act of 1999’’.
SEC. 2. ATTORNEY GENERAL TO CONDUCT STUDY.
(a) STUDY.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall
conduct a nationwide study of stops for traffic viola-
tions by law enforcement officers.
(2) INITIAL ANALYSIS.—The Attorney General
shall perform an initial analysis of existing data, in-
cluding complaints alleging and other information
concerning traffic stops motivated by race and other
bias.
(3) DATA
COLLECTION.—After completion of
the initial analysis under paragraph (2), the Attor-
ney General shall then gather the following data on
traffic stops from a nationwide sample of jurisdic-
tions, including jurisdictions identified in the initial
analysis:
(A) The traffic infraction alleged to have
been committed that led to the stop.
(B) Identifying characteristics of the driver
stopped, including the race, gender, ethnicity,
and approximate age of the driver.
(C) Whether immigration status was ques-
tioned, immigration documents were requested,
or an inquiry was made to the Immigration and
Naturalization Service with regard to any per-
son in the vehicle.
(D) The number of individuals in the
stopped vehicle.
(E) Whether a search was instituted as a
result of the stop and whether consent was re-
quested for the search.
(F) Any alleged criminal behavior by the
driver that justified the search.
(G) Any items seized, including contraband
or money.
(H) Whether any warning or citation was
issued as a result of the stop.
(I) Whether an arrest was made as a re-
sult of either the stop or the search and the
justification for the arrest.
(J) The duration of the stop.
(b) REPORTING.—Not later than 120 days after the
date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall
report the results of its initial analysis to Congress, and
make such report available to the public, and identify the
jurisdictions for which the study is to be conducted. Not
later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this
Act, the Attorney General shall report the results of the
data collected under this Act to Congress, a copy of which
shall also be published in the Federal Register.
SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM.
In order to complete the study described in section
2, the Attorney General may provide grants to law en-
forcement agencies to collect and submit the data de-
scribed in section 2 to the appropriate agency as des-
ignated by the Attorney General.
SEC. 4. LIMITATION ON USE OF DATA.
Information released pursuant to section 2 shall not
reveal the identity of any individual who is stopped or any
law enforcement officer involved in a traffic stop.
SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this Act:
(1) LAW
ENFORCEMENT
AGENCY.—The term
‘‘law enforcement agency’’ means an agency of a
State or political subdivision of a State, authorized
by law or by a Federal, State, or local government
agency to engage in or supervise the prevention, de-
tection, or investigation of violations of criminal
laws, or a federally recognized Indian tribe.
(2) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’
means any Indian or Alaska Native tribe, band, na-
tion, pueblo, village, or community that the Sec-
retary of the Interior acknowledges to exist as an In-
dian tribe.
SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated such sums
as may be necessary to carry out this Act.
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