Improve Data Collection
Although Texas’ racial profiling law (S.B. 1074, effective 2001) mandates that law enforcement agencies must annually collect and report racial profiling data, there are few measures in place to ensure the accurate collection and consistent reporting of this data. Currently, each agency is required to report its annual data only to its own local governing body. The Texas Criminal Justice Coalition (TCJC) is the sole source of cross-agency monitoring; we use the Texas Public Information Act to request a copy of each agency’s data and analyze it for compliance and trends.
Since 2001, we have determined that the means by which agencies collect and report their data differs greatly from agency to agency, due in large part to the fact that S.B. 1074 did not create uniform reporting standards. In addition, we continue to find that some agencies are still not collecting the data required by law, while others are not reporting the data to their governing bodies. Ultimately, this lack of compliance with the law prevents agencies and community members from knowing the effects of local stop and search practices. Only with uniform data – reported annually by every law enforcement agency in Texas – can we have apples to apples comparisons, which enable police supervisors to identify stop or search disparities within their own departments and make internal policy changes that improve the way they protect the public.