|
|
BERWYN
HEIGHTS POLICE DEPARTMENT COLLECTION MANDATE |
|
|
|
BERWYN
HEIGHTS POLICE DEPARTMENT COLLECTION MANDATE |
|
There is a
perceived notion that some police officers stop traffic violators
based on their race, rather than a specific traffic violation.
Whether this
notion is actually true or not, the State of Maryland has decided to
collect statistics for the next several years on most
traffic stops made
by police officers throughout the state, and to analyze this data in
hopes of determining if a problem exists or not.
In order to comply
with this mandate, officers must fill out an additional form each
time they issue a Traffic Citation, Warning Notice,
or Safety
Equipment Repair Order, which consists of Forty-Three
(43) questions about the traffic stop. In some cases the officers
must answer all
43 questions themselves, and in others, data processing
personnel at the police stations extract some of the data
from the actual traffic citations,
and fill in the remainder of the forms. Either way, it
adds time-consuming work for both the police
officers on the street,
and the civilian data processing personnel who must eventually
compile all of the submitted data into a single
database, then
submit it to Dr. Wellington of the University of Maryland for final
anaysis and evaluation.
It should be
noted that while the State of Maryland created a law mandating that
all police departments participate in the
process of
collecting racial profiling data, they did not offer any funds to
assist the agencies with fulfilling this obligation.
As a result,
many departments with already-strained budgets, are now feeling the
added stress associated with meeting
the
requirements of this mandate.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HAND WRITTEN CITATIONS
In order to make
the process of data collection easier for the officers on the street,
the Berwyn Heights Police Department
has created a
simple computerized form, which is easily filled out on the patrol
car's Mobile Data Terminal after an officer
finishes writing a
traffic citation. The data from this form is then
electronically transmitted back to the police station, where
it is
"dumped" into a central database, which
is eventually sent to the University of Maryland. (The law only
requires that
the data be
submitted once, at the end of each calendar year.) It
should be noted that this form is only used for BHPD cars
which are NOT
equipped with the Electronic/Computerized Traffic Citation System.
Click
Here to View the Form
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ELECTRONIC / COMPUTERIZED CITATIONS
For those BHPD cars which are equipped with
the Computerized Citation System, there is little to no
work at all on the part of
the issuing officer! This is because
the computerized Traffic Citations, Warning Notices & Safety
Equipment Repair Orders all
have the Racial Profiling
Data Collection Form (technically called "Traffic Citation
Supplement Information") built into the citation
form. As the
officer fills out the citation, the information needed for the Racial
Profiling Data Form is automatically carried over to it.
If the officer is
issuing a simple traffic citation, with NO arrest or
search of the violator, then there is no other work
to be done
in order to complete the
Racial Profiling Data Form. It's already done! If
however the arrest becomes more involved, then
there are
additional blocks on the Racial Profiling Data Form which must be
completed as well.
The use of "drop-downs" for most blocks on the form however, speeds up the officers requirement to fill in the additional information.
Click Here to View the Citation Form as the Officer Sees It on the Mobile Data Terminal Screen
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Footnote:
The requirement that police officers collect
“Racial Profiling” data is a sensitive subject which has
caused many
officers to become reluctant to make traffic stops for
various reasons.
Some feel that the law is unnecessary, and have
reduced the number of citations they write as a form of “self-protest,”
while others feel that the burden of filling out of
additional forms when issuing traffic citations simply adds to the large
amount of paperwork already endured
by police officers on an average shift. Whatever the reason, a
reduction in the
number of traffic stops by police
officers has a far-reaching impact both socially, and on the economic
well-being of
the State. Police officers who choose
to “ignore” traffic violations will simply assist the law
breakers in carrying out
their acts, and eventually word will spread
that it is “okay” to violate the traffic laws in Maryland. Additionally,
revenue generated through the collection of traffic
fines will noticeably decrease, causing an undue hardship on various
State-funded programs, such as the Medevac
Rescue Helicopter, which saves hundreds of lives annually.
At least part of this problem
can be cured by the use of the Electronic/Computerized Traffic Citations.
Officers who have slowed down in the issuance of
traffic citations due to the required additional paperwork,
will no longer have “that excuse”
to use, as the Electronic/Computerized Citations automatically
collect the
Racial Profiling Form Data, as the citations are being
filled in.
Hopefully in 2007, when the mandate
for the collection of Racial Profiling Data comes to an end, the
final analysis of the data will result in a
conclusion that the "percieved problem" is in fact, not a reality.
