[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 23 (Monday, June 14, 1999)]
[Pages 1067-1068]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Memorandum on Fairness in Law Enforcement

June 9, 1999

Memorandum for the Secretary of the Treasury, the Attorney General, the 
Secretary of the Interior

Subject: Fairness in Law Enforcement: Collection of Data

    We must work together to build the trust of all Americans in law 
enforcement. We have great confidence in our Federal law enforcement 
officers and know that they strive to uphold the best principles of law 
enforcement in our democratic society. We cannot tolerate, however, 
officers who cross the line and abuse their position by mistreating law-
abiding individuals or who bring their own racial bias to the job. No 
person should be subject to excessive force, and no person should be 
targeted by law enforcement because of the color of his or her skin.
    Stopping or searching individuals on the basis of race is not 
effective law enforcement policy, and is not consistent with our 
democratic ideals, especially our commitment to equal protection under 
the law for all persons. It is neither legitimate nor defensible as a 
strategy for public protection. It is simply wrong.
    To begin addressing the problem of racial profiling, Federal 
agencies should collect more data at all levels of law enforcement to 
better define the scope of the problem. The systematic collection of 
statistics and information regarding Federal law enforcement activities 
can increase the fairness of our law enforcement practices. Tracking the 
race, ethnicity, and gender of those who are stopped or searched by law 
enforcement will help to determine where problems exist, and guide the 
development of solutions.
    I therefore direct you to design and implement a system to collect 
and report statistics relating to race, ethnicity, and gender for law 
enforcement activities in your department. Specifically, you shall:
(1)         develop a proposal within 120 days, in consultation with the 
            Attorney General, for a system of data collection and an 
            implementation plan for a field test of that system, 
            including the law enforcement agency components, sites, data 
            sets, training, and other methods and procedures to be 
            included in the field testing. You shall implement field 
            tests within 60 days of finalizing their proposals;
(2)         to the extent practicable, collect data that is sufficiently 
            detailed to permit an analysis of actions relevant to the 
            activities of the included law enforcement agencies by race, 
            ethnicity, or gender. Such actions may include traffic 
            stops, pedestrian stops, a more extensive inspection or 
            interview than that customarily conducted with entrants to 
            the United States, requests for consent to search, or 
            warrantless searches. Data acquired pursuant to this 
            memorandum may not contain any information that may reveal 
            the identity of any individual; and
(3)         provide to the Attorney General a summary of the information 
            collected during the first year of your field test, 
            including civilian complaints received alleging bias based 
            on the race, ethnicity, or gender of the complainant in law 
            enforcement activities; your process for investigating and 
            resolving such complaints; and the outcomes of any such 
            investigations. The Attorney General shall report to me, in 
            consultation with relevant agency heads, on the results of 
            the field tests with: (i) an evaluation of the first year of 
            the field test; (ii) an implementation plan to expand the 
            data collection and reporting system to other components and 
            locations within the agency and to make such system 
            permanent; and (iii) recommendations to improve the fair 
            administration of law enforcement activities.
    In addition, within 120 days of the date of this directive, you 
shall provide a report to me on your training programs, policies, and 
practices regarding the use of race, ethnicity, and gender in your law 
enforcement activities, along with recommendations for improving those 
programs, policies, and practices.
                                            William J. Clinton

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