Racial profiling data extended
Senators advanced a bill from general file April 18 regarding the collection of racial profiling information.
LB99, introduced by Omaha Sen. Heath Mello, initially would have extended the 2014 sunset date to Jan. 1, 2018, for the Nebraska Commission on Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice to collect racial profiling data. The bill later was amended to remove the sunset date altogether.
Under the bill, the commission would be allowed to accept and required to seek grants, donations, gifts or contributions from public or private sources to fund comprehensive reviews of racial profiling data. A report of such reviews would be provided to the governor and Legislature annually until April 1, 2018.
A Judiciary Committee amendment, adopted 37-0, added requirements for the commission and law enforcement. The amendment would:
• establish that anti-profiling laws extend to any detentions in addition to traffic stops;
• require the commission to inquire and include in the annual report any data suggesting racial profiling has occurred; and
• allow the commission’s Racial Profiling Advisory Committee to advise the commission’s executive director and the commission itself on the annual review and collection of data, completeness and acceptability of the submitted anti-racial profiling policies and the need for enforcement by the Nebraska Department of Justice if agencies fail to supply the required reporting or comply with the prohibition on racial profiling.
Additionally, the amendment would require law enforcement agencies to provide a written anti-racial profiling minimum-standard policy, a copy of which must be sent to the commission. The commission’s model policy would be mandated if an agency refused to submit a policy.
Mello said the amendment would strengthen the commission’s ability to gather and analyze data in an attempt to prevent racial profiling from occurring in the state.
Omaha Sen. Steve Lathrop supported the bill, saying the data provided by such reports is beneficial to identifying racial profiling.
“Statistics tell us that the police, in any one case, typically have a reason that they can articulate for pulling someone over,” he said. “When they can articulate a reason but they just enforce it more against minorities than Caucasians, then the information we get from [the reports] is useful.”
Omaha Sen. Tanya Cook also supported the bill and the amendment, saying the sunset originally was enacted due to law enforcement’s concerns about the cost of collecting the data. The continued gathering and analysis of such data is needed to guide policy decisions, she said.
Mello offered, and later withdrew, two amendments to the bill. The first amendment would have eliminated the sunset provisions in the original bill and the second amendment also would have eliminated the sunset provisions and increased the governor-appointed committee membership positions from three to five. He said he offered the amendment on behalf of the advisory committee.
Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers reoffered the Mello amendment, adopted 38-0, and said the advisory committee’s request should be taken into consideration and voted on because law enforcement serves on the advisory committee.
“These are some of the professionals working in this area on these problems,” Chambers said.
Columbus Sen. Paul Schumacher said the reporting of such data has been ineffective and has not prevented racial profiling.
“This originally started out as something that was going to expire over time,” he said. “We are making a lot of overhead for small communities that have limited resources and no problems with racial profiling.”
Schumacher offered an amendment, adopted 28-0, that would require law enforcement officers, prosecutors, defense attorneys and probation officers who become aware of racial profiling by a law enforcement agency to report it to the commission within 30 days, unless they are restricted by privilege.
He said the amendment would make the bill more effective by helping the committee determine where problems exist and by creating a legal obligation to report such incidents to the commission.
LB99 was advanced from general file on a 36-0 vote.
