Connecticut Public Act No. 99-198
An Act Concerning Traffic Stops Statistics.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (a) For the purposes of this section, "racial profiling" means the detention, interdiction or other disparate treatment of an individual solely on the basis of the racial or ethnic status of such individual.
(b) No member of the Division of State Police within the Department of Public Safety, a municipal police department or any other law enforcement agency shall engage in racial profiling. The detention of an individual based on any noncriminal factor or combination of noncriminal factors is inconsistent with this policy.
(c) The race or ethnicity of an individual shall not be the sole factor in determining the existence of probable cause to place in custody or arrest an individual or in constituting a reasonable and articulable suspicion that an offense has been or is being committed so as to justify the detention of an individual or the investigatory stop of a motor vehicle.
Sec. 2. (NEW) (a) Not later than January 1, 2000, each municipal police department and the Department of Public Safety shall adopt a written policy that prohibits the stopping, detention or search of any person when such action is solely motivated by considerations of race, color, ethnicity, age, gender or sexual orientation, and the action would constitute a violation of the civil rights of the person.
(b) Commencing on January 1, 2000, each municipal police department and the Department of Public Safety shall, using the form developed and promulgated pursuant to section 3 of this act, record and retain the following information: (1) The number of persons stopped for traffic violations; (2) characteristics of race, color, ethnicity, gender and age of such persons, provided the identification of such characteristics shall be based on the observation and perception of the police officer responsible for reporting the stop and the information shall not be required to be provided by the person stopped; (3) the nature of the alleged traffic violation that resulted in the stop; (4) whether a warning or citation was issued, an arrest made or a search conducted as a result of the stop; and (5) any additional information that such municipal police department or the Department of Public Safety, as the case may be, deems appropriate.
(c) Each municipal police department and the Department of Public Safety shall provide to the Chief State's Attorney (1) a copy of each complaint received pursuant to this section, and (2) written notification of the review and disposition of such complaint.
(d) Any police officer who in good faith records traffic stop information pursuant to the requirements of this section shall not be held civilly liable for the act of recording such information unless the officer's conduct was unreasonable or reckless.
(e) If a municipal police department or the Department of Public Safety fails to comply with the provisions of this section, the Chief State's Attorney may recommend and the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management may order an appropriate penalty in the form of the withholding of state funds from such department or the Department of Public Safety.
(f) On or before October 1, 2000, and annually thereafter, each municipal police department and the Department of Public Safety shall provide to the Chief State's Attorney, in such form as the Chief State's Attorney shall prescribe, a summary report of the information recorded pursuant to subsection (d) of this section.
(g) The Chief State's Attorney shall, within the limits of existing appropriations, provide for a review of the prevalence and disposition of traffic stops and complaints reported pursuant to this section. Not later than January 1, 2002, the Chief State's Attorney shall report to the Governor and General Assembly the results of such review, including any recommendations.
(h) The provisions of subsections (f) and (g) of this section shall be in effect from the effective date of this act until January 1, 2002.
Sec. 3. Not later than January 1, 2000, the Chief State's Attorney, in conjunction with the Commissioner of Public Safety, the Attorney General, the Chief Court Administrator, the Police Officer Standards and Training Council, the Connecticut Police Chiefs Association and the Connecticut Coalition of Police and Correctional Officers, shall develop and promulgate: (1) A form, in both printed and electronic format, to be used by police officers when making a traffic stop to record personal identifying information about the operator of the motor vehicle that is stopped, the location of the stop, the reason for the stop and other information that is required to be recorded pursuant to subsection (b) of section 2 of this act; and (2) a form, in both printed and electronic format, to be used to report complaints pursuant to section 2 of this act by persons who believe they have been subjected to a motor vehicle stop by a police officer solely on the basis of their race, color, ethnicity, age, gender or sexual orientation.
Approved June 28, 1999