Assembly Bill No. 500–Assemblymen Williams, Giunchigliani, Leslie, Goldwater, Parks, Anderson, Bache, Buckley, Chowning, Manendo and Ohrenschall

 

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AN ACT relating to law enforcement; directing the Attorney General to conduct a statistical study regarding traffic stops by the Nevada Highway Patrol and by law enforcement officers in certain counties; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN

SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

 

   Section 1. Chapter 289 of NRS is hereby amended by adding a new

 section thereto to read as follows:

   1.  A peace officer shall not engage in racial profiling.

   2.  No retaliatory or punitive action may be taken against a peace

 officer who discloses information concerning racial profiling.

   3.  For purposes of this section, “racial profiling” means reliance by

 a peace officer upon the race, ethnicity or national origin of a person as

 a factor in initiating action when the race, ethnicity or national origin of

 the person is not part of an identifying description of a specific suspect

 for a specific crime.

   Sec. 2.  1.  The Attorney General shall conduct a study of traffic stops

 by the Nevada Highway Patrol and in counties whose population is

 100,000 or more by metropolitan police departments, sheriffs and their

 deputies, and city police chiefs and their officers. Each such law

 enforcement agency shall cooperate fully in the study.

   2.  To carry out this study, the Attorney General shall, based upon the

 recommendations of the Director of the Department of Motor Vehicles

 and Public Safety and the heads of the affected local law enforcement

 agencies, prescribe the form and manner of collecting and transmitting

 information regarding each traffic stop. The information required to be

 collected and transmitted to the Attorney General must include, without

 limitation:

   (a) The traffic violation or infraction alleged to have been committed

 that caused the driver to be stopped.

   (b) The identifying characteristics of the driver who was stopped,

 including, without limitation, the driver’s race, ethnicity, and gender and

 approximate age.

   (c) A statement of whether the immigration status of the driver was

 questioned, including whether immigration documents were requested by

 the officer or whether an inquiry was made to the Immigration and

 Naturalization Service of the United States Department of Justice with

 regard to the immigration status of any person in the motor vehicle.

   (d) The number of persons who were in the motor vehicle when it was

 stopped.

   (e) A statement of whether a search was instituted as a result of the stop,

 including, without limitation, whether consent was requested for the

 search or whether a particular alleged criminal behavior by the driver

 justified the search.

   (f) A report of any items seized during a search of the vehicle,

 including, without limitation, a report of any contraband or money that

 was seized.

   (g) A statement of whether any warning or citation was issued as a

result of the stop.

   (h) A statement of whether an arrest was made as a result of either the

 stop itself or any search conducted during the stop, and the justification for

 any such arrest.

   3.  The Attorney General may collect reports from individual law

 enforcement officers regarding traffic stops made by other law

 enforcement officers and from drivers who were the subject of a traffic

 stop. Any such report may be submitted anonymously, and must be kept

 confidential.

   4.  On or before February 1, 2003, the Attorney General shall compile

 the results of the information collected pursuant to subsections 2 and 3 and

 report it in statistical form. All identifying information regarding the

 particular law enforcement officers who made the stops and the drivers

 who were stopped must remain confidential.

   5.  The Attorney General shall submit a copy of the report to the

 Director of the Legislative Counsel Bureau for transmittal to the 72nd

 session of the Nevada Legislature.

   6.  As used in this section, “traffic stop” means any occasion when the

 driver of a motor vehicle is halted by a law enforcement officer for an

 alleged traffic violation or infraction, or any other purpose.

   Sec. 3.  1.  This section and section 2 of this act become effective

 upon passage and approval for the purposes of the creation of the form

 required pursuant to section 2 of this act, and on July 1, 2001, for all other

 purposes.

   2.  Section 1 of this act becomes effective on July 1, 2001.

 

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