[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 821 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 821

        To provide for the collection of data on traffic stops.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 15, 1999

    Mr. Lautenberg (for himself, Mr. Feingold, Mr. Kennedy, and Mr. 
  Torricelli) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
        To provide for the collection of data on traffic stops.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Traffic Stops Statistics Study Act 
of 1999''.

SEC. 2. ATTORNEY GENERAL TO CONDUCT STUDY.

    (a) Study.--
            (1) In general.--The Attorney General shall conduct a 
        nationwide study of stops for traffic violations by law 
        enforcement officers.
            (2) Initial analysis.--The Attorney General shall perform 
        an initial analysis of existing data, including complaints 
        alleging and other information concerning traffic stops 
        motivated by race and other bias.
            (3) Data collection.--After completion of the initial 
        analysis under paragraph (2), the Attorney General shall then 
        gather the following data on traffic stops from a nationwide 
        sample of jurisdictions, including jurisdictions identified in 
        the initial analysis:
                    (A) The traffic infraction alleged to have been 
                committed that led to the stop.
                    (B) Identifying characteristics of the driver 
                stopped, including the race, gender, ethnicity, and 
                approximate age of the driver.
                    (C) Whether immigration status was questioned, 
                immigration documents were requested, or an inquiry was 
                made to the Immigration and Naturalization Service with 
                regard to any person in the vehicle.
                    (D) The number of individuals in the stopped 
                vehicle.
                    (E) Whether a search was instituted as a result of 
                the stop and whether consent was requested for the 
                search.
                    (F) Any alleged criminal behavior by the driver 
                that justified the search.
                    (G) Any items seized, including contraband or 
                money.
                    (H) Whether any warning or citation was issued as a 
                result of the stop.
                    (I) Whether an arrest was made as a result of 
                either the stop or the search and the justification for 
                the arrest.
                    (J) The duration of the stop.
    (b) Reporting.--Not later than 120 days after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Attorney General shall report the results of its 
initial analysis to Congress, and make such report available to the 
public, and identify the jurisdictions for which the study is to be 
conducted. Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of 
this Act, the Attorney General shall report the results of the data 
collected under this Act to Congress, a copy of which shall also be 
published in the Federal Register.

SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM.

    In order to complete the study described in section 2, the Attorney 
General may provide grants to law enforcement agencies to collect and 
submit the data described in section 2 to the appropriate agency as 
designated by the Attorney General.

SEC. 4. LIMITATION ON USE OF DATA.

    Information released pursuant to section 2 shall not reveal the 
identity of any individual who is stopped or any law enforcement 
officer involved in a traffic stop.

SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act:
            (1) Law enforcement agency.--The term ``law enforcement 
        agency'' means an agency of a State or political subdivision of 
        a State, authorized by law or by a Federal, State, or local 
        government agency to engage in or supervise the prevention, 
        detection, or investigation of violations of criminal laws, or 
        a federally recognized Indian tribe.
            (2) Indian tribe.--The term ``Indian tribe'' means any 
        Indian or Alaska Native tribe, band, nation, pueblo, village, 
        or community that the Secretary of the Interior acknowledges to 
        exist as an Indian tribe.

SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 
necessary to carry out this Act.
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