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HomeMy WebLinkAboutRes 07-07 Accepting the Keller Police Department Racial Profiling ReportTOWN OF WESTLAKE RESOLUTION NO. 07-07 A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN OF THE TOWN OF WESTLAKE, TEXAS, ACCEPTING THE RACIAL PROFILING REPORT FOR THE TOWN OF WESTLAKE AS PREPARED BY THE CITY OF KELLER POLICE DEPARTMENT, THE TOWN'S CONTRACTING LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY WHEREAS, Texas Racial Profiling Law (S.B. Number 1074) requires the collecting of law enforcement contact data for the purpose of identifying and responding (if necessary) to the concerns regarding racial profile practices and the Board of Aldermen recognize the importance of complying with this law; and WHEREAS, the Texas Racial Profiling Law requires that the jurisdiction's law enforcement agency establishes a policy detailing the methodology for the collection, analysis, and enforcement of the law and the law enforcement agency shall then report annually the findings associated with the data in writing to the governing body; and WHEREAS, the Town of Westlake's Racial Profiling Report is provided by the City of Keller Police Department, the contracting law enforcement agency for the Town and is presented for acceptance. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN OF THE TOWN OF WESTLAKE, TEXAS: SECTION 1. That the above findings are found to be true and correct and are incorporated herein in their entirety. SECTION 2. That the Town of Westlake Board of Aldermen accepts the Racial Profiling Report, submitted as attached Exhibit "A", as a true and accurate report concerning this subject as addressed under the terms of the contract for law enforcement with the City of Keller and its Police Department. SECTION 3. By accepting this report, the Town of Westlake acknowledges compliance with the Texas Racial Profiling Law, S.B. No. 1074. SECTION 4. That this Resolution shall become effective upon its date of passage PASSED AND APPROVED ON THIS 12 T' DAY OF FEBRUARY 2007. Scott Bradley, Mayor 61 ATTEST: zf"w— 2e4z�-' Sutter, fRMC, Town Secretary Trent O. Petty, To Man ge EXHIBIT "A" POLICE DEPARTMENT January 25, 2007 Mayor Bradley and Board of Aldermen Town of Westlake 2650 J.T. Ottinger Road Westlake, TX. 76262 Dear Mayor Bradley and the Board of Aldermen, Since we assumed the responsibility of police services in Westlake, the Keller Police Department in accordance with the Texas Racial Profiling Law (S.B. No. 1074), has been collecting police contact data for the purpose of identifying and responding (if necessary) to concerns regarding racial profiling practices. It is my hope that the findings provided in this report will serve as evidence that the Keller Police Department continues to strive towards the goal of maintaining strong relations with the community and strongly prohibits racial profiling. In this report, you will find sections designed at providing background information on the requirements of the Texas Racial Profiling Law. The information is relevant to the institutional policies adopted by the Keller Police Department to prevent the practice of racial profiling among its officers. The final components of this report provide statistical data relevant to the public contacts made during the period of 1/1/06 through 12/31/06 within the Town of Westlake. This information has been analyzed and compared to various census data within the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. The analysis of the data is included. It is my goal to continue to be responsive to the community by implementing and monitoring the proper policies and safeguards to prevent racial profiling practices. As always, I am here for your questions and concerns. Sincerely, Mark R. Hafner Chief of Police 330 RUFE SNOW DR. • P,O. BOX 770 • KELLER, TEXAS 76244 • (817)743-4500 Fax ($17)743-4590 Wel: http://www.kellerpd.com 0 info@kcllerpd.com POLICY ADOPTION Senate Bill 1074 passed by the 77th Legislature of the State of Texas requires that as of January 1, 2002, each law enforcement agency in this state shall adopt a detailed written policy on racial profiling. The policy must strictly prohibit peace officers from engaging in racial profiling. Furthermore, the policy must outline a process for individuals to file a complaint regarding racial profiling. The policy must also provide public education on the agency's complaint process and require corrective action to be taken against officers in violation of this policy. Lastly, the policy requires law enforcement agencies to collect and report data relating to traffic stops. On August 27, 2001, the Keller Police Department implemented policy to comply with the law. The policy was re -written to comply with CALEA National Accreditation Standards on 9126/2003. The policy contained the following elements: Li A definition that clearly describes the act of Racial Profiling. ❑ A statement that strictly prohibits officers from engaging in Racial Profiling. ❑ The implementation of a process by which an individual may file a complaint regarding racial profiling violations. ❑ Provide public education related to the complaint process. ❑ The implementation of disciplinary guidelines for officers found in violation of the policy. ❑ Adopted a policy on standards for retaining and reviewing video and audio documentation of motor vehicle and pedestrian stops. ❑ Procedures to collect data on persons who received traffic citations to include, race, whether a search was conducted, if so was it by consent, and was a custody arrest performed. Each peace officer employed by the City of Keller completed the comprehensive education and training program on racial profiling established by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education. The Chief of Police completed the program on racial profiling established by the Bill Blackwood Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas. The Chief of Police also addresses all employees yearly on the topic and how the practice would violate our mission statement of providing excellent value -driven police services. Furthermore, the practice will not be tolerated and any officer found in violation of the policy would be disciplined accordingly. The supervisors were instructed on how to receive complaints of racial profiling from the public. Lastly, the public education component was met by plating the complaint procedure on our web site that is linked to the Westlake web site and in a brochure available at the front counter of the police department, the Municipal Court in Westlake and in the field with our officers. DATA COLLECTION Because the Keller Police Department utilizes video and audio recording equipment in all of the cars assigned to patrol and traffic duty and audio recording equipment on our motorcycle traffic units, the law only requires us to collect racial profiling data on traffic stops where we issued citations or make an arrest resulting from the traffic stop. The officers make the necessary notations on the citations as to the race of the individual using the state mandated categories: White, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, African, and Other (not on the list or officer can't determine). The officer also makes the notation if a search was conducted and if so was it based on consent and if the violator was taken into custody. To allow for proper auditing and control procedures, employees of the Westlake Municipal Court (non -police department personnel) enter the data into a computer database and provide a report to the Chief of Police on a monthly basis. DATA ANALYSIS AND DISSEMINATION Each month the Chief of Police receives the report from the Westlake Municipal Court and enters it on a spread sheet looking to see if the data shows any trends of issuing citations, searching vehicles, and taking persons into custody at a rate that over represents any race category. The law does not provide a comparative baseline that must be used. The baseline used by this department includes the 2000 census data (Race by Percentage of Population), and vehicle availability data by race in the 2000 census. Comparative Analysis Table 1. Comparison of total citations issued by the Keller Police Department in the Town of Westlake and 2000 Census Data for Tarrant County, Denton County and DFW Region for the calendar year 2006. Race Percentage of 2000 Census 2000 Census 2000 Census total citations Data by Race Data by Race Data by Race issued by the for DFW for Tarrant for Denton Keller Police Dept Region County County in the Town of Westlake. White 77.77% 69.70% 71.20% 81.70% Black 7.44% 13.60% 12.80% 5.80% Indian 0.00%° .60% .60% .70% Asian 2.11% 3.70% 3.60% 4.00% Hispanic 12.15% 21.40% 19.70% 12.09% Other 0.53% 1 9.90% 9.10% 5.53% Table 2. Comparison of citations issued by the Keller Police Department in the Town of Westlake and 2000 Census Data of vehicles available to household by race for the calendar year 2006. Table 3. Comparison of total citations by year issued by the Keller Police in the Town of Westlake in 2006 and 2005 and 2000 Census Data for Tarrant County and DFW Region. Race Percentage 2000 Census 2000 Census 2000 Census of Citations Percentage of Percentage of Race issued by the vehicles by vehicles by Data by Race Keller Police Race available Race available Dept. in the to Tarrant to Denton for DFW Town of County County Westlake Residents Residents White 77.77% 70.17% 80.84% Black 7.44% 11.67% 5.58% Hispanic 12.15% 13.51% 12.09% Asian 2.11% 2.79% 3.18% Table 3. Comparison of total citations by year issued by the Keller Police in the Town of Westlake in 2006 and 2005 and 2000 Census Data for Tarrant County and DFW Region. Race Percentage of Percentage of 2000 Census 2000 Census 2000 Census total citations total citations Data by Race Data by Race Data by Race issued by the issued by the for DFW for Tarrant for Denton Keller Police Keller Police Region County County Dept in the Dept in the Town of Town of Westlake 2006 Westlake 2005 White 77.77% 77.46% 69.70% 71.20% 81.70% Black 7.44% 6.63% 13.60% 12.80% 5.80% Indian 0.00% 0.04% .60% .60% .70% Asian 2.11% 1.73% 3.70% 3.60% 4.00% Hispanic 12.15% 13.45% 21.40% 19.70% 12.09% Other 0.53% 0.69% 9.90% 9.10% 5.53% CONCLUSION Upon reviewing and comparing the data on a monthly basis and collectively for the period 1/112007 through 1213112007, no significant over representation of issuing citations to any particular race is readily apparent. The issuing of citations appears to be consistent with the current racial demographics for the Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex. Because the population of Westlake is so small (500) and the sample size of citations issued to Westlake residents (66) is equally insufficient for a good statistical sample it is important to use the regional racial demographic data for comparison. Furthermore, the bulk of the citations issued within Westlake were on Highway 114, a heavily traveled thoroughfare that links Dallas, Tarrant, and Denton Counties. When looking at the data regarding the searching and arrest of individuals within Westlake it may appear that Hispanic individuals are being arrested and searched at a greater rate than represented in the demographics but before any type of conclusion can be drawn from this, one must look at just how small the sample is. The total sample for Hispanics arrested is 20 and the total number of Hispanics searched is 13 for the entire year. Upon checking our complaint files for 2006, there were no complaints in Westlake by persons believing they were stopped solely due to their race. The previous year we also had none. RECOMMENDATIONS Based on the findings in this report, the Keller Police Department will adopt the following measures aimed at preventing potential racial profiling practices in the future: • Continue to emphasize the prohibition of racial profiling as outlined in General Order 100.3 of the Keller Police Department General Orders. • Annually, all sworn personnel will receive training in bias based profiling issues including field contacts, traffic stops, search issues, asset seizure, interview techniques, cultural diversity, discrimination, and community support. • Continue to collect the citation data as required under the law on a monthly basis looking for any abnormal trends. • Share with the officers the traffic citation data on a regular basis and commend them for a enforcing the law without racial biases. • Continue to equip the marked patrol units with video and audio systems and have the supervisors randomly review the tapes of the individual officers. • Continue to share and educate the public on the topic of racial profiling. • Continue to foster an environment that maintains the trust of the community that the organization will investigate all allegations of police misconduct in a fair and impartial manner. • Continue our commitment to remain a Nationally Accredited Police Agency that will improve our policies and operations and therefore make us more responsive to the community we serve. 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