Traffic Stop Data Collection Policies for State Police, 1999

Provides findings from the 1999 Survey of State Police Agencies Information Inventory. Discussed are the circumstances under which demographic data are collected for traffic-related contacts and violations. The survey also asked if the data collected was stored in an electronically accessible format. At midyear 1999, 9 of the Nation's 49 State law enforcement agencies whose primary duties include highway patrol reported requiring officers to report demographic information on the driver or passengers for all traffic stops. Thirty-one agencies reported collecting the race/ethnicity of drivers receiving traffic-related citations. Fifteen State agencies recorded the driver's race/ethnicity if officers conducted a vehicle or occupant search. A majority of the States that collected racial/ethnic information from traffic stops maintained these data electronically.