Racial Profiling and the Political Demand for Data

• Author: Robert W. Taylor,Tory J. Caeti,Chad R. Trulson,Eric J. Fritsch,John Liederbach
• Published date: 01 June 2007
• Date: 01 June 2007
• DOI: 10.1177/0734016807300499
• Subject Matter: Articles

Racial Profiling and the

Political Demand for Data

A Pilot Study Designed to Improve

Methodologies in Texas

John Liederbach

Chad R. Trulson

Eric J. Fritsch

Tory J. Caeti*

Robert W. Taylor

University of North Texas, Denton

We are currently witnessing a large-scale, national movement toward the mandated collection

of traffic stop data by police. The intended goal of mandated data collection is the identifica-

tion and elimination of racial profiling by police. However, problems related to this trend are

beginning to emerge, especially in states that have initiated required data collection in the

absence of rigorous and standardized methodologies. The present study describes the results

of a pilot project that was designed to develop and implement improved strategies for the col-

lection and analysis of racial profiling data in Texas and elsewhere. The article includes an

overview of the national trend toward racial profiling data collection as well as a discussion of

the primary problems related to the study of racial profiling during traffic stops.

Keywords: racial profiling; racial profiling and methodology; police discretion; traffic stop

data

Racial profiling has sparked increasing controversy and debate among citizens, law

enforcement personnel, and researchers concerned with the equitable delivery of

police services. Recent polls indicate that roughly half of all Americans believe that the

practice of racial profiling is widespread (Carlson, 2004). A 2004 report by Amnesty

International relates that a “staggering” 32 million Americans—a number equivalent to the

population of Canada—have already been victims of racial profiling while driving their car,

walking through airports, shopping, or going to church. This same report indicates that

nearly 87 million citizens are “at high risk of being subjected to racial profiling during their

lifetime” (Amnesty International, 2004). Despite questions as to the accuracy of these

claims, police administrators now appear to be genuinely concerned that public perceptions

of profiling will negatively affect the level of trust and cooperation that they receive from the

public (McMahon, Garner, Davis, & Krause, 2002). Academic interest in racial profiling

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Criminal Justice Review

Volume 32 Number 2

June 2007 101-120

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*The authors would like to dedicate this article to the memory of coauthor Tory J. Caeti who passed away in

August 2006. He has been and will continue to be missed as a professional colleague, but more importantly as

a close friend, a father, and a loving husband.

also has increased, so much so that empirically based articles on racial profiling are now

common in scholarly policing journals (Batton & Kadleck, 2004; Petrocelli, Piquero, &

Smith, 2003; Shepard Engel, 2002; Shepard Engel & Calnon, 2004).

Public and academic concern in regard to the issue has predominantly centered on police

decision making during traffic stops, presumably because these actions have been the sub-

ject of high-profile court decisions and derisive popular media accounts that have helped to

elevate the scope of controversy surrounding the issue (Atwater v. City of Lago Vista, 2001;

Harris, 1999; Whren v. United States, 1996; Wilkins v. Maryland State Police, 1993). In

response, state lawmakers have enacted numerous forms of legislation designed to address

these public concerns. Indeed, within just the past 5 years, lawmakers in 26 states have

passed statutes expressly related to racial profiling (Police Foundation, 2005; Racial

Profiling Data Collection Resource Center, 2005). Although the specific content of these

statutes varies widely across jurisdictions, the common thread underlying this legislative

movement is the fact that state-level political bodies are becoming increasingly proactive

in their attempts to stamp out racial profiling on the street. For example, lawmakers in a

small but expanding number of states have passed laws that require selected agencies to

collect traffic stop data. In some states, lawmakers have responded to strong political pres-

sures by requiring the collection of traffic stop data for all police agencies statewide.

In 2001, Texas legislators placed themselves squarely in the vanguard of this trend

toward mandated data collection when they passed Senate Bill 1074, or what has come to

be known locally as the “racial profiling law.” The law prohibits racial profiling, which is

defined as “a law enforcement–initiated action based on an individual’s race, ethnicity, or

national origin rather than on the individual’s behavior or on information identifying the

individual as having engaged in criminal activity” (Texas CCP,Article 3.05). Beginning in

January 2002, all police agencies in Texas were required to adopt a policy prohibiting racial

profiling, implement a complaint process, and collect data on the race of any driver who

was issued a citation. In January 2003, agencies were required to collect data for all vehi-

cle and pedestrian stops regardless of whether a citation was issued. Texas police agencies

must annually report data regarding (a) the race of the persons who are stopped and/or

searched within their respective jurisdictions, (b) whether or not the stop involved a con-

sensual search, and (c) whether or not the stop involved an arrest.

There is no doubt that the trend toward data collection has improved the quality of discourse

regarding racial profiling. Legislative mandates and the voluntary efforts of police agencies

have worked to provide a sliver of empirical evidence to a debate that had been largely domi-

nated by purely anecdotal descriptions and individual accounts of profiling incidents. The trend

toward mandated data collection, however, also has served to highlight the difficulties associ-

ated with discerning the extent to which racial profiling actually occurs. That is, although leg-

islatures have increasingly demanded more data, they have often ignored the need for rigorous

and standardized methodologies required to provide a better understanding of the degree to

which racial profiling may be a problem within their jurisdiction. Ironically, the national trend

toward mandated data collection may raise public expectations concerning the emergence of

definitive evidence about racial profiling, even though existing methodological limitations in

Texas and elsewhere virtually ensure that these expectations will not be met.

The issue of disproportionality can be used to demonstrate the limits of racial profiling

data collection to date. The weight of existing evidence has made it clear that within many

102 Criminal Justice Review