Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Racial profiling reports come under criticism

Survey cards that police officers will complete after each traffic stop to track racial profiling should include the officers' names, the length of the stop and whether handcuffs were used, Metro Police and the attorney general's office were told.

During a forum Monday night to gather public comments on the cards, Sheriff Jerry Keller and First Assistant Attorney General Thomas Patton were repeatedly asked why officers' names would not be included.

About 100 people attended the meeting at the County Government Center.

Along with identifying the officers on the cards, others suggested that the duration of the stop as well as whether or not the person stopped was handcuffed should be included in the data.

A law passed in the 2001 Legislature requires that officers after each traffic stop must record information in 17 categories, including the race of the driver, location of the stop and reasons for any search or arrest. The law does not require officers to be identified.

Keller and representatives of Henderson and North Las Vegas police and the Nevada Highway Patrol said that they would consider the question of including the officers' name on the cards, but Patton said there are concerns that officers could be hampered in their jobs if they are identified.

"There is a concern that police could overcompensate or disengage, because they think, 'Oh my God I've made four stops involving Hispanics I have to balance this out,' " Patton said.

Summer Huff, a 17-year-old Valley High School student who attended the meeting as part of a class, said the profiling study seems to be a waste of time.

"There is no statistician, no Ph.D., that is going to be able to tell which police officer is a racist," Huff said. "Most police officers are good, but one that is not is just going not fill it out right. They will just say they didn't pull that person over."

State Sen. Joe Neal, D-Las Vegas, and Gary Peck, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, both questioned the decision to allow officers to fill out reports anonymously, with Peck saying that not having a way to identify the officers that fill out the cards is a mistake.

"There is simply no credible social science or policy analysis reason not to include the information if we want to have the best, most clear data," Peck said. "What is going on is political, with law enforcement trying to insulate from possible embarrassment, possible lawsuits and being held accountable.

"No one is asking that the names of the officers be made public, but they should be used to gain an aggregate view. Not identifying the officer will erode public confidence in the study, and running the risk of an exercise in futility."

Keller said that identifying the officers on the data sheets could lead to a disastrous de-policing situation, in which officers start making traffic stops based on population percentages.

"We want to make sure that we continue to perform our mission with the same degree of intensity," Keller said. "There is no one-size-fits-all solution. The study is one-size-fits-one to identify if there is systematic abuse.

"We have processes in place through internal affairs to handle specific complaints, and if there is bias of any kind, we want to identify it and weed it out."

While Keller said he hoped the study combined with the processes avaliable through internal affairs would be a joint effort to weed out any abuse, Neal said that the study does not meet the spirit of the legislation.

"I think he has a mechanism he wants to use that dances around the issue we spelled out in the legislation," Neal said.

Patton said the suggestions will be considered by the attorney general's office and police officials as they work to create a final version of the card that will be used during a two-month trial period starting on Oct. 1 by officers in Clark and Washoe counties and Nevada Highway Patrol.

The officers will use a final version of the card next year, and the results will be forwarded to the 2003 Legislature.

Patton said the scantron-like card should take the officer about a minute to fill out.

Others at Monday's meeting questioned Keller about how they could go about identifying officers in a complaint if an officer refuses to tell them his or her name.

"As of Jan. 1 we will have a new policy that if an officer stops you, one of three things will happen," Keller said. "You'll either be arrested, cited or they'll give you a business card with their name and personnel number on it."

Police are also looking into placing videocameras into patrol vehicles, but the camera and the installation costs about $5,000 a car, not including maintenance and video storage costs, NHP Capt. Chris Perry said.

"Through a federal grant we are in the process of getting 60 cameras for our patrol vehicles statewide," Perry said. "We'll see how it goes, and if it goes well, the goal will be to get the 400 we'll need for all our vehicles."

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