7/24/2019 2016 MCCRC Testimony for HB628, Officer identification
at traffic stops
1/3
February 23, 2016 testimony to the House Judiciary Committee
in SUPPORT of HB628, "An Act concerning Public Safety - TracSto!
- Ocer i!clo!ure!"
Thomas Nephew, ember, ont!omery County Ci"i# $i!hts
Coa#ition
%contact information withhe#d&'pea(in! for the acti"ist
!roup )ont!omery County Ci"i# $i!hts Coa#ition)and for myse#f, *
support this #e!is#ation, which wou#d re+uire ocers ma(in!a trac
stop to identify both themse#"es, their bad!e number, and thereason
for the stop to the car dri"er-
First and foremost, it is hard to ima!ine why this wou#d not
a#ready be thecase .. and po#ice departments #i(e to assure the
pub#ic that is their usua#procedure- For instance, the /a#timore
County o#ice epartment say anocer who has stopped someone for a
wi## )!enera##y) --- )pro"ide theirname upon re+uest) and )inform a
person about the reason for bein!
stopped or +uestioned-)
1
t that rate, why sett#e for )!enera##y) or )on re+uest) e#e!ate
oon4s bi##pro"ides an e5ception for )e5i!ent circumstances) other
than that, topro"ide a name so the #aw enforcement ocer can be
identi7ed #ater if needbe, and a reason so his or her purpose is
(nown, is .. one wou#d hope.. asimp#e matter of professiona#ism and
courtesy-
'econd, of course, there is often a concern that trac stops are
conducted ina way that pena#i8es )dri"in! whi#e b#ac(-) To be sure,
there is #itt#ea!reement or 7rm scienti7c conc#usions on what the
principa# causes of thebiased resu#ts are9 )bad app#e) ocers a side
e:ect of po#ice patro##in! hi!hcrime areas true di:erences in minor
infraction rates, e-!-, seat be#t use2
nd yet the e:ects are rea#, the distrust sown is rea#, the costs
to "ictims ofracia# bias .. and then often to ta5payers .. are
rea#- For e5amp#e, a NorthCaro#ina study found that some districts
showed hi!her than e5pected tracstops for frican mericans-3 ary#and
'tate o#ice entered into a consentdecree with the C;< of ary#and
and NC of ary#and for racia#pro7#in!-= *n >reensboro, North
Caro#ina, "ofcers pulled over Arican-American drivers or trafc
violations at a rate ar out o proportion with theirshare o the
local driving population. They used their discretion to searchblack
drivers or their cars more than twice as oten as white motorists
even though they ound drugs and weapons signicantly more oten
when
the driver was white. fcers were more likely to stop black
drivers or nodiscernible reason. And they were more likely to use
orce i the driver wasblack! even when they did not encounter
physical resistance."
?hate"er the fundamenta# causes of trac stop bias, it is
incumbent on theary#and #e!is#ature to do e"erythin! in its power
to remo"e potentia#sources of that bias-
