Fifteen years ago a study was conducted to examine whether police treated minorities different than they treat whites. In July of 2015 Governor Raimondo passed a law to help discover if racial profiling exists. The Law requires police to collect data on race at traffic stops and requires all police departments to submit annual report to the Department of Transportation Office of Highway Safety. The collection of data will reveal if there are trends of racial profiling in the police departments. Additionally, this will act as a method of accountability for police departments. Departments cannot continue to discriminate without revealing discriminatory trends that will be met with corrective actions.
Gregg, K. (July 14, 2015). ProvidenceJournal.com. Raimondo Signs Legislation to Curb Racial Profiling, Requires Police Collect Data on Traffic Stops. Retrieved from http://www.providencejournal.com/article/20150714/NEWS/150719640
I have always found it interesting that a solution to racial profiling is to "see" and record race.
ReplyDeleteI do think that this is a step in the right direction towards acknowledging the presence of racism in the criminal justice system. I agree with the aspect that it fosters some accountability of officers while they are serving their community. However this approach is not fool proof, as officers could lie in their reports and skew the results. I am very interested to see what the final results report.
ReplyDelete