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ACLU of Texas Criticizes Continued Use of Race, Over-Use of Consent Searches in Traffic Stops (2/17/2006)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: media@aclu.orgSweeping New Report Documents Problems in Use of
Consent Searches
AUSTIN, TX - A
report released today by the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition found that many
state law enforcement agencies continue to use consent searches inconsistently
and inappropriately, and that consent searches rarely uncover wrongdoing and are
more likely to target minorities.
A consent search occurs
when an officer thinks a motorist may be involved in some criminal activity but
has no true evidence to back up the feeling. The officer can request that the
motorist allow a search, thus granting consent. The motorist is within his or
her rights to refuse the search.
In addition to concerns
about racial profiling, the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, a member of
the criminal justice coalition, said the consent search practice raises basic
constitutional problems. "The Fourth Amendment guarantees the right to be
free from unreasonable searches," said Will Harrell, Executive Director of the
ACLU of Texas. "Law enforcement shouldn't be allowed to force people into
giving up their rights at traffic stops through trickery or intimidation.
The practice violates fundamental principles of protected liberty,"
The report, Searching for Consent: An Analysis of Racial Profiling
in Texas, found that approximately two out of three departments still use race
as a factor in conducting consent searches, and African Americans and Latinos
continue to be searched more frequently than whites.
Report data
indicate that 2.3 percent of all drivers (103,705) statewide were subjected to
consent searches at traffic stops in 2004. The report also found that some
departments conducted consent searches of all races much more frequently than
the statewide average. In addition, departments that conducted consent
searches of minorities at higher rates also tended to consent-search whites more
often.
"We hope this report can be used as a tool by law
enforcement across the state to take a look at their disparities and make policy
changes that will improve the way they conduct searches and protect the public,"
said Ana Yáñez-Correa, Executive Director of the Texas Criminal Justice
Coalition, which authored the report. "Consent searches divert resources from
crime-fighting tasks that improve public safety. Our officers' time and
energy should be spent on productive techniques, not on a hit-or-miss tactic
that is diminishing the community's faith in law enforcement."
The Texas Criminal Justice Coalition's report did reveal
some encouraging news. From 2003 to 2004, about half of departments
reported that they decreased the size of the racial disparity in consent
searches they conducted, according to their own self-reported
data.
"If the law is colorblind, then race-based searches need to
go," said Mary Ramos, State Deputy Director for the League of United Latin
American Citizens of Texas. "This report shows that Texas still has miles
to go before all law enforcement agencies start looking for what's in the trunk
and not at the color of the person behind the wheel."
To address
the problems with consent searches and better assist law enforcement in
implementing policies that serve the public's best interests, the report makes
several recommendations to the Texas Legislature,
including:
- Texas should
adopt the search policy used by New Jersey, Minnesota, Rhode Island, and the
California Highway Patrol, which stipulates that a "legal basis" be required for
conducting searches
- Law
enforcement agencies should be required to collect and report some additional
data elements that will aid them in identifying and implementing new and
effective practices consistent with their mission to protect and serve all
Texans.
"The sad truth for people of color in Texas is that even
if you are as innocent as the driven snow, the color of your skin dictates that
you are much more likely to be stopped and then searched by police," said Gary
Bledsoe, President of the Texas State Conference of branches of the National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People. "However, the positive
side is that there is now empirical proof of this, so hopefully Texas lawmakers
will decide that people of color should be treated with dignity like all other
citizens, and actually pass some laws to curb this behavior."
This
year's report is the third by the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition on behalf of
the Campaign to End Racial Profiling, members of which include the Texas State
Conference of branches of the National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People, League of United Latin American Citizens of Texas, ACLU of
Texas, and the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition. The campaign was
instrumental in passing legislation against racial profiling in 2001, making
racial profiling data available for the first time in Texas.
The
entire report, including agency breakdowns, is online, at: www.criminaljusticecoalition.org/end_racial_profiling
For
information on the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition's work to end racial
profiling, go to www.criminaljusticecoalition.org/end_racial_profiling
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