What is required by law?
How do officers identify a person's race and input that info electronically?
by Nancy Hernandez
News-Post Staff

	As is required by all law enforcement officers who make traffic stops, Sgt. Robert Calo, of the Maryland State Police, inputs traffic stop data into an online management system at the MSP's Frederick barrack. Staff photo by Doug Koontz
	On the web Reports by the Maryland Justice Analysis Center are available online at mdle.net/traffic/06menu.htm

FREDERICK — Anytime a motorist is stopped by a police officer in Frederick County, he will be issued one of three items — an order to repair missing or malfunctioning equipment on his vehicle, a warning or a citation.

Regardless of what is issued, it will be in writing if it comes from the Maryland State Police, the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office or the Thurmont Police Department. Officers with the Maryland Natural Resources Police and the Frederick and Brunswick police departments have the option to give verbal warnings.

Whether a driver received a verbal warning or a written document, details about the stop will be recorded.

A 2001 Maryland law requires law enforcement agencies to submit reports on all discretionary traffic stops each year to the Maryland Justice Analysis Center at the University of Maryland. The center delivers an annual report to the Maryland General Assembly.

Discretionary traffic stops are those that don’t involve radar, laser or Visual Average Speed Computer and Recorder technology. Stops made during checkpoints, roadblocks or emergency situations are among those excluded from the reporting requirements.

The Maryland General Assembly wanted statistics to evaluate whether officers might be deciding to stop or search someone based on the driver’s race, according to the Maryland Department of Legislative Services.

The law followed two 1990s lawsuits filed against the MSP. The suits charged that the MSP was profiling motorists based on race.

Under transportation article 25-113, all law enforcement agencies must report details about what prompted each traffic stop, search or arrest, as well as information about a motorist’s race, ethnicity, age and gender.

“The law helps empower communities,” said Meredith Curtis, spokeswoman of the ACLU of Maryland.

It allows people to take a look at why people are being pulled over and what happens during the stop to see if there are any concerns about how law enforcement agencies are conducting themselves, she said.

The requirements began in 2002 for agencies with more than 100 officers. Smaller agencies were phased in during the next three years, with all reporting by 2004. In 2005, the state had about 120 police agencies.

The law initially required data to be collected through Dec. 31, 2006. The Maryland General Assembly voted last year to extend the requirement until Dec. 31, 2007. A senate bill was introduced earlier this month by Senator Lisa Gladden, a Baltimore City democrat, that would extend the requirement through Dec. 31, 2009.

The 11-member Judicial Proceedings Committee of the Maryland General Assembly unanimously voted Friday to send the bill to the senate. The bill is expected to be voted on this week.

The analysis center’s report on 2005 data states, “(The) comparisons suggest but cannot conclusively demonstrate, that non-whites are differentially stopped for (discretionary) traffic offenses in the State of Maryland ... the proportion of stops that result in a search is slightly higher for Hispanic and black males than it is for whites and other categories.”

To date, the General Assembly hasn’t taken any action based on the reports.

Reporting methods

How police choose to identify a person’s race and ethnicity for reporting is up to them, although recommendations are offered, according to the analysis center.

Frederick County’s three leading police agencies — the Maryland State Police, the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office and the Frederick Police Department — allow the officers to note a person’s race and ethnicity based on personal observation.

Some sheriff’s deputies also routinely identify or verify a motorist’s race and ethnicity using information from the Motor Vehicle Administration, said Cpl. Jennifer Bailey, spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office.

Most agencies across Maryland do not require officers to ask the motorist, said Charles Wellford, head of the analysis center.

“They thought that would be too provocative,” he said.

The intent of the law is to find out if initial perception is influencing the actions taken by officers, said Dennis Murphey, a retired MSP captain who now coordinates the agency’s collection of racial data.

If officers use means other than initial observation to note a motorist’s race, the data won’t provide an accurate picture of what is happening on the streets, he said.

When it comes to recording the data, agencies have discretion as well. A form was prepared by the analysis center in conjunction with the Maryland Police Training Commission to provide a model.

The Frederick Police Department uses a form similar to the model. Separate categories are provided to note a motorist’s race, ethnicity, age, gender as well as other items such as the time, date and location of the stop and the outcome.

Officers fill out the form for every stop, in addition to the citation or equipment repair order that is issued. The form is completed regardless of whether radar was used because the department compares if the race of motorists stopped by radar differs from discretionary stops, said Bill Douwes, a crime analyst for the Frederick Police Department.

Supervisors review the forms after each shift to ensure they have been completed correctly, he said. Personnel in the records division electronically input the data to submit it to the analysis center.

Sheriff’s deputies do not complete any additional forms. Personnel in the records division look at the citations, warnings and equipment repair orders submitted daily to input the required data electronically, said Keesha Beall, an executive assistant and former superintendent of the records division at the sheriff’s office.

If a traffic stop results in a search, the deputy will attach a sticker to the back of the citation, warning or equipment repair order. The sticker has places for the deputy to mark why the search took place, whether property or contraband was seized and if an arrest was made. Additional paperwork is completed if an arrest is made.

Supervisors review the paper documents before sending them to the records division, she said.

Maryland State Police troopers input the data they record on paper citations, warnings or equipment repair orders into a computer online management system. The system was developed by MSP in an effort to improve how the agency records traffic stops.

Troopers select options from pull-down menus in most fields, a system that ensures all necessary information is entered, said 1st Sgt. Russell Newell, MSP spokesman.

It speeds up the process and eliminates the likelihood of errors or missing data, he said. The entire traffic stop record won’t be accepted unless all the fields contain data.

Troopers typically input the data at the end of their shifts, using computers at the Frederick barrack or a secured system at their homes. Some can input directly from their vehicles — more than 700 of the roughly 830 patrol cars in Maryland are equipped with mobile computers.

To ensure troopers input the data accurately, their supervisors perform monthly reviews, comparing data recorded on the paper forms to what is recorded electronically. Quarterly audits are conducted statewide. The troopers receive no advance notice about what month the audit will take place.

The sheriff’s office, the Frederick Police Department and the Maryland State Police analyze and review their data to look for potential problems. MSP provides a monthly analysis to every barrack commander.

The sheriff’s office provides a general overview of race statistics quarterly to top managers. Statisticians at the Frederick Police Department create charts and graphs annually for review by management. The department began voluntarily gathering racial data before the state requirement and used to analyze the data monthly but found there wasn’t much variation, Douwes said.

If something seems amiss in the figures, supervisors study the stops and look at all the possible variables, he said. For example, an officer might have stopped a high number of Asian motorists because he was patrolling a neighborhood with a high number of Asian residents.

The law doesn’t aim to monitor individual officers, but agencies as a whole, Douwes said.