HB0025 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB101 03316 SLF 48324 b

101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2019 and 2020
HB0025

Introduced 1/9/2019, by Rep. André Thapedi

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

New Act

Creates the Eliminate Racial Profiling Act. Provides that no law enforcement agent or law enforcement agency shall engage in racial profiling. Allows the State or a person injured by racial profiling to enforce the racial profiling provision in a civil action for declaratory or injunctive relief. Requires law enforcement agencies to maintain policies and procedures, designed to eliminate racial profiling, and to certify that in applications for certain federal grant programs. Requires the Attorney General to adopt rules for administrative complaint procedures and independent audit programs applicable to law enforcement agencies. Allows the Attorney General to make grants to law enforcement agencies to develop and implement best practices to eliminate racial profiling. Allows the Attorney General to order the withholding of certain federal grants for law enforcement agencies that are not in compliance with the Act. Grants rulemaking authority to the Attorney General to implement the Act. Defines terms.

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning racial profiling.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Eliminate Racial Profiling Act.

Section 5. Definitions. In this Act:

"Covered program" means any program or activity funded in whole or in part with funds made available under:

(1) the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program under part E of title I of the federal Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3750 et seq.); and

(2) the "Cops on the Beat" program under part Q of title I of the federal Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796dd et seq.), except that no program, project, or other activity specified in Section 1701(b)(13) of that part shall be a covered program.

"Governmental body" means any department, agency, special purpose district, or other instrumentality of State or local government.

"Hit rate" means the percentage of stops and searches in which a law enforcement officer finds drugs, a gun, or other contraband that leads to an arrest. The hit rate is calculated by dividing the total number of searches by the number of searches that yield contraband. The hit rate is complementary to the rate of false stops.

"Law enforcement agency" means any State or local public agency engaged in the prevention, detection, or investigation of violations of criminal laws.

"Law enforcement agent" means any State or local official responsible for enforcing criminal laws, including police officers and other agents of a law enforcement agency.

"Prevailing party" means a person:

(1) who obtains some of his or her requested relief through a judicial judgment in his or her favor;

(2) who obtains some of his or her requested relief through any settlement agreement approved by the court; or

(3) whose pursuit of a non-frivolous claim was a catalyst for a unilateral change in position by the opposing party relative to the relief sought.

"Racial profiling" means the practice of a law enforcement agent or agency relying, to any degree, on actual or perceived race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation in selecting which person to subject to routine or spontaneous investigatory activities or in deciding upon the scope and substance of law enforcement activity following the initial investigatory procedure, except when there is trustworthy information, relevant to the locality and time frame, that links a person with a particular characteristic described in this paragraph to an identified criminal incident or scheme.

"Routine or spontaneous investigatory activities" means the following activities by a law enforcement agent:

(1) interviews;

(2) traffic stops;

(3) pedestrian stops;

(4) frisks and other types of body searches;

(5) consensual or nonconsensual searches of a person, property, or his of her possessions, including a vehicle, of persons using any form of public or private transportation, including motorists and pedestrians;

(6) data collection and analysis, assessments, and predicated investigations; or

(7) any other type of law enforcement encounters compiled for or by the Department of State Police and the Racial Profiling Prevention and Data Oversight Board under the Racial Profiling Prevention and Data Oversight Act.

"Reasonable request" means all requests for information, except for those that:

(1) are immaterial to the investigation;

(2) would result in the unnecessary disclosure of personal information; or

(3) would place a severe burden on the resources of the law enforcement agency given its size.

"Unit of local government" means:

(1) any municipal, county, township, or other general purpose political subdivision of this State;

(2) any law enforcement district or jurisdiction that:

(A) is established under applicable State law; and

(B) has the authority to, and in a manner independent of other State entities, establish a budget and impose taxes.

Section 10. Racial profiling prohibition. No law enforcement agent or law enforcement agency shall engage in racial profiling.

Section 15. Enforcement.

(a) The State or a person injured by racial profiling may enforce Section 10 in a civil action for declaratory or injunctive relief, filed in a State court of competent jurisdiction.

(b) In any action brought under this Act, relief may be obtained against:

(1) any governmental body that employed any law enforcement agent who engaged in racial profiling;

(2) any agent of a governmental body who engaged in racial profiling; and

(3) any person with supervisory authority over any law enforcement agent who engaged in racial profiling.

(c) Proof that the routine or spontaneous investigatory activities of law enforcement agents in a jurisdiction have had a disparate impact on persons with a particular racial profiling characteristic shall constitute prima facie evidence of a violation of this Act.

(d) Upon motion, a court shall award reasonable attorney's fees and costs, including expert witness fees and other litigation expenses, to a plaintiff who is a prevailing party in any action brought: (1) under subsection (b) of this Section; or (2) to enforce a right arising under the Illinois Constitution. In awarding reasonable attorney's fees, the court shall consider the degree to which the relief obtained relates to the relief sought.

Section 20. Policies to eliminate racial profiling.

(a) Law enforcement agencies shall:

(1) maintain adequate policies and procedures designed to eliminate racial profiling; and

(2) cease existing practices that permit racial profiling.

(b) The policies and procedures described in paragraph (1) of subsection (a) shall include:

(1) a prohibition on racial profiling;

(2) training on racial profiling issues as part of law enforcement training;

(3) the collection of data under rules adopted under Section 45;

(4) procedures for receiving, investigating, and responding meaningfully to complaints alleging racial profiling by law enforcement agents; and

(5) any other policies and procedures the Attorney General determines to be necessary to eliminate racial profiling by law enforcement agencies.

Section 25. Policies required for grants.

(a) An application by a unit of local government or a law enforcement agency for funding under a covered program shall include a certification that the unit of local government or law enforcement agency, and any law enforcement agency to which it will distribute funds:

(1) maintains adequate policies and procedures designed to eliminate racial profiling; and

(2) has eliminated any existing practices that permit or encourage racial profiling.

(b) The policies and procedures described in paragraph (1) of subsection (a) shall include:

(1) a prohibition on racial profiling;

(2) training on racial profiling issues as part of law enforcement training;

(3) the collection of data under the rules adopted by the Attorney General under Section 45; and

(4) participation in an administrative complaint procedure or independent audit program that meets the requirements of Section 30 of this Act.

Section 30. Attorney General; rulemaking authority.

(a) Not later than 6 months after the effective date of this Act and in consultation with stakeholders, including law enforcement agencies and community, professional, research, and civil rights organizations, the Attorney General shall adopt rules for the operation of administrative complaint procedures and independent audit programs to ensure that the programs and procedures provide an appropriate response to allegations of racial profiling by law enforcement agents or agencies. The rules shall contain guidelines that ensure the fairness, effectiveness, and independence of the administrative complaint procedures and independent auditor programs.

(b) If the Attorney General determines that the recipient of a grant from any covered program is not in compliance with the requirements of Section 20 or any rule adopted under subsection (a) of this Section, the Attorney General shall order the distributing agency to withhold, in whole or in part, at the discretion of the Attorney General, funds for one or more grants to the recipient under the covered program, until the recipient establishes compliance.

(c) The Attorney General shall provide notice and an opportunity for private parties to present evidence to the Attorney General that a recipient of a grant from any covered program is not in compliance with the requirements of this Act.

Section 35. Data collection.

(a) The Attorney General may, through competitive grants or contracts, carry out a 2-year demonstration project for the purpose of developing and implementing data collection programs on the hit rates for stops and searches by law enforcement agencies. The data collected shall be disaggregated by race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, and religion.

(1) The Attorney General shall provide not more than 10 grants or contracts under this Section.

(2) Grants or contracts under this Section shall be awarded to law enforcement agencies that serve communities in which there is a significant concentration of racial or ethnic minorities and that are not already collecting data voluntarily beyond that which is required under the Traffic Stop Statistical Study Act.

(b) Activities carried out with a grant under this Section shall include:

(1) developing a data collection tool and reporting the compiled data to the Attorney General; and

(2) training of law enforcement personnel on data collection, particularly for data collection on hit rates for stops and searches.

(c) Not later than 3 years after the effective date of this Act, the Attorney General shall enter into a contract with a State institution of higher education to analyze the data collected by each of the grantees funded under this Section.

Section 40. Best practices development grants.

(a) The Attorney General may make grants to law enforcement agencies and units of local government to develop and implement best practice devices and systems to eliminate racial profiling.

(b) The funds provided under subsection (a) of this Section shall be used for programs that include the following purposes:

(1) The development and implementation of training to prevent racial profiling and to encourage more respectful interaction with the public.

(2) The acquisition and use of technology to facilitate the accurate collection and analysis of data.

(3) The development and acquisition of feedback systems and technologies that identify officers or units of officers engaged in, or at risk of engaging in, racial profiling or other misconduct.

(4) The establishment and maintenance of an administrative complaint procedure or independent auditor program.

(c) The Attorney General shall ensure that grants under this Section are awarded in a manner that reserves an equitable share of funding for small and rural law enforcement agencies.

(d) Each law enforcement agency or unit of local government desiring a grant under this Section shall submit an application to the Attorney General at the time, in the manner, and accompanied by the information as the Attorney General may reasonably require.

Section 45. Rulemaking.

(a) Not later than 6 months after the effective date of this Act, the Attorney General, in consultation with stakeholders, including State and local law enforcement agencies and community, professional, research, and civil rights organizations, shall adopt rules for the collection and compilation of data under Sections 15 and 20 of this Act.

(b) The rules adopted under subsection (a) shall:

(1) provide for the collection of data on all routine or spontaneous investigatory activities;

(2) provide that the data collected shall:

(A) be collected by race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, and religion, as perceived by the law enforcement officer;

(B) include the date, time, and location of the investigatory activities;

(C) include detail sufficient to permit an analysis of whether a law enforcement agency is engaging in racial profiling; and

(D) not include personally identifiable information;

(3) provide that a standardized form shall be made available to law enforcement agencies for the submission of collected data to the Attorney General;

(4) provide that law enforcement agencies shall compile data on the standardized form made available under paragraph (3) of this subsection (b), and submit the form to the Attorney General;

(5) provide that law enforcement agencies shall maintain all data collected under this Act for not less than 4 years;

(6) include guidelines for setting comparative benchmarks, consistent with best practices, against which collected data shall be measured; and

(7) provide that the Attorney General shall:

(A) analyze the data for any statistically significant disparities, including:

(i) disparities in the percentage of drivers or pedestrians stopped relative to the proportion of the population passing through the neighborhood;

(ii) disparities in the hit rate;

(iii) disparities in the frequency of searches performed on racial or ethnic minority drivers and the frequency of searches performed on non-minority drivers; and

(B) not later than 3 years after the effective date of this Act, and annually thereafter:

(i) prepare a report regarding the findings of the analysis conducted under subparagraph (A) of this paragraph (7);

(ii) provide the report to the General Assembly; and

(iii) make the report available to the public, including on the Attorney General's website.

(c) In addition to the rules under subsections (a) and (b) of this Section, the Attorney General may adopt any other rules he or she determines are necessary to implement this Act.

Section 50. Publication of data. The Attorney General shall provide to the General Assembly and make available to the public, together with each annual report described in Section 25, the data collected under this Act, excluding any personally identifiable information.

Section 55. Reports. Not later than 2 years after the effective date of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Attorney General shall submit to the General Assembly a report on racial profiling by law enforcement agencies. The reports to the General Assembly shall be filed with the Clerk of the House of Representatives and the Secretary of the Senate in electronic form only, in the manner that the Clerk and the Secretary shall direct. Each report submitted shall include:

(1) a summary of data collected under paragraph (3) of subsection (b) of Section 15 and paragraph (3) of subsection (b) of Section 20 and from any other reliable source of information regarding racial profiling in the State;

(2) a discussion of the findings in the most recent report prepared by the Attorney General under paragraph (7) of subsection (b) of Section 45;

(3) the status of the adoption and implementation of policies and procedures by law enforcement agencies under this Act; and

(4) a description of any other policies and procedures that the Attorney General believes would facilitate the elimination of racial profiling.