Racial Profiling.

Every contact with a person falls into one of three levels. A consensual encounter requires no justification. It is a voluntary conversation with a person who is free to leave. An investigative detention, or “Terry stop,” requires reasonable suspicion and lets you briefly detain a person to investigate. An arrest requires probable cause: a belief that a crime has been committed and that the person arrested committed it.

Reasonable suspicion means you can point to certain facts or circumstances suggesting that a person committed a crime, is committing one, or plans to engage in criminal activity. A gut feeling or a hunch does not qualify. During a temporary detention you may hold the person for a reasonable period of time to account for their activity, make reasonable inquiries such as identity, reason for being in the area and an explanation of the suspicious conduct, and seek consent for a pat down or search.

The outline lists five theories for a stop: traffic violations, “pretext” stops, community caretaking, citizen calls, and roadblocks or checkpoints. The stop does not justify a search. Once a traffic stop is made, you need independent justification to search the vehicle or its occupants. The four listed justifications are consent, search incident to arrest, probable cause, and an inventory search of an impounded vehicle.

Probable cause is a higher standard than reasonable suspicion. You must be able to show facts or evidence that would lead a reasonable person to believe a crime has been, is being, or will be committed. The outline gives an illegal turn, a taillight out and an expired registration as probable cause reasons for a vehicle stop under the Transportation Code. Probable cause can also develop after you detain someone on reasonable suspicion.

Two constitutional provisions sit under this topic. The Fourth Amendment prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures. The Fourteenth Amendment guarantees equal protection under the law.

Texas law defines racial profiling as a law enforcement-initiated action based on an individual’s race, ethnicity, or national origin rather than on the individual’s behavior or on information identifying the individual as having engaged in criminal activity. Art. 2B.0052 is one sentence: a peace officer may not engage in racial profiling.

Every agency whose officers make motor vehicle stops must adopt a detailed written policy. The policy must define and strictly prohibit racial profiling, set up a complaint process, educate the public about the compliment and complaint process, require corrective action against an officer shown to have profiled, require the collection of stop data, and require the chief administrator to report that data every year to TCOLE and to the governing body the agency serves. If a complaint involves a video or audio recording, the agency must promptly give the officer a copy on the officer’s written request.

Your own duty is in Art. 2B.0054. After a motor vehicle stop you report: the driver’s gender and race or ethnicity, as stated by the person or, if not stated, as you determine to the best of your ability. The initial reason for the stop. Whether you searched, whether the person consented, the reason for the search, and whether contraband or evidence was found. Whether you made an arrest and on what basis. The street address or approximate location. Whether you gave a warning or a citation. Whether you used physical force that resulted in bodily injury. The statute’s race or ethnicity categories are Alaska native or American Indian, Asian or Pacific Islander, black, Hispanic or Latino, and white.

The agency compiles and analyzes the reports and submits the previous calendar year’s data not later than March 1. The report may not identify the officer or the person stopped. The collected data is not prima facie evidence of racial profiling. An officer is not liable for damages arising from collecting or reporting the required information. A local agency whose chief administrator intentionally fails to submit the data is liable for a civil penalty of up to $5,000 for each violation, and TCOLE must begin disciplinary procedures against that administrator. The outline also lists the training statutes: Education Code 96.641 for police chiefs and command staff, Occupations Code 1701.253 for the school curriculum, and Occupations Code 1701.402(e), which makes racial profiling training a requirement for the intermediate proficiency certificate.