WHEREAS, on June 9, 1999 President Clinton issued an Executive Order stating that stopping or searching individuals on the basis of race is not an effective law enforcement policy, that it is inconsistent with our democratic ideals, especially our commitment to equal protection under the law for all persons, and that it is neither legitimate nor defensible as a strategy for public protection, and instructing the law enforcement agencies within the Departments of Justice, Treasury, and Interior to collect race, ethnicity and gender data on the people they stop or arrest; and,

WHEREAS, on February 15, 2000, the Washington State Legislature passed Senate Bill 6683 addressing the practice of targeting certain racial groups for stops, ordered demographic data collection by the Washington State Patrol and encouraged other local law enforcement agencies to voluntarily gather data; and,

WHEREAS, the Seattle Human Rights Commission, Commission for Sexual Minorities, and Women's Commission passed a joint resolution on July 17, 2000 calling upon the Mayor to direct SPD to collect data as called for in ESSB 6683, to analyze and report on a semi-annual basis.

Establish a Task Force of Commissioners to participate in the review and offer recommendations on a semi-annual basis; and,

WHEREAS, the International Association of Chiefs of Police passed two Resolution in November 1999 condemning racial profiling and urging all law enforcement agencies to implement a variety of steps, including traffic data collection; and,

WHEREAS, the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives passed a resolution on July 20, 1998 denouncing racial profiling and supporting U.S. legislation calling for collection of traffic stop data; and,

WHEREAS, the Washington State Supreme Court has ruled that pretextual traffic stops on the basis of race are illegal; and

WHEREAS, the City of Seattle could be open to sanctions under the Violent Crime and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, if discriminatory practices were found to be used by City departments; and,

WHEREAS, the City of Seattle is committed to ensuring the coexistence of public safety and civil liberties; and,

WHEREAS, the City of Seattle is committed to policing procedures that are fair, equitable, and constitutional; and,

WHEREAS, the Seattle Police Department prohibits discrimination by police officers in the conduct of their duties and requires them to protect the constitutional rights of citizens; and,

WHEREAS, studies and analyses completed on traffic stops by the Seattle Police Department show racial disproportionality, i.e., that African American citizens are cited at a rate greater than their percentage of the driving public within the City of Seattle; and,

WHEREAS, the reasons for this are poorly understood, data on the subject are inadequate to make conclusive findings, and research to understand the basis of the disproportionality is a high priority in a city committed to human and civil rights.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SEATTLE, THE MAYOR CONCURRING, THAT:

1. The use of race or ethnicity as a factor in deciding to stop and question, arrest, or search a person without a legal basis under the United States and Washington State Constitutions is illegal, reprehensible, and will not be tolerated. Such racial profiling is ineffective law enforcement policy and offends fundamental democratic principles.

2. The Seattle Police Department shall assure that it has in place a policy against racial profiling.

3. The Seattle Police Department shall enforce its policies and provide training to correct and prevent cases of conscious or unconscious racial profiling among officers and employees.

4. The Strategic Planning Office (SPO) shall convene a Citizen Task Force. The Task Force shall consist of a limited number of members, appointed and confirmed by the Council, representing a broad range of perspectives. Representatives shall include, but not be limited to: a member of the City of Seattle's Human Rights Commission; a member of a public interest organization, a member of a community or neighborhood organization, a member of the academic community; a representative(s) from the legal community; and Council staff. The role of the Citizen Task Force is to represent the specific needs and concerns of the community at large and to work with SPD, SPO, and academic experts to provide consultation on the objectives, goals and design of the data collection program. SPO will synthesize the recommendations from the Citizen Task Force, SPD, and academic experts and will create a data collection program design and workplan based on those recommendations. The design shall include at a minimum data on race/ethnicity, current demographics, time, location, gender, age, reason for police stop, and on whether a search was conducted. The Citizen Task Force is asked to review the collection of license plate information as a possible component in the design. The design shall include at least two components: a method to collect data from police and civilians; including civilians who have been stopped by the police. The cost for the design and implementation of the data collection program shall not exceed the amount $200,000, as allotted in the 2001-2002 budget. SPO shall present the Council with a recommendation for a final design within 120 days after the forumlation of the Citizen Task Force. The formulation of the Citizen Task Force shall be completed not later than 60 days from the adoption of this resolution.

5. Upon Council's approval of the data collection design, the Seattle Police Department and SPO shall structure and implement a system to begin collecting data. Implementation shall begin within 90 days of Council approval. Such research efforts will be housed within SPO, not the Seattle Police Department.

6. The Seattle Police Department, in consultation with the Citizen Task Force, and SPO shall devise a comprehensive strategic plan to utilize the data collection effort to enhance training, counseling, and police management, to implement police misconduct prevention techniques, to develop early warning systems, and to improve the citizen complaint process, community relations and education. SPD shall present this plan as well as the status of data collection efforts to the Public Safety and Technology Committee and the Housing, Human Services, Education and Civil Rights Committee no later than March 2001. SPO, in consultation with the Citizen Task Force, shall review the data collected and present a final report with findings, analysis, and recommendations to the Council by no more than 18 months from the beginning of data collection to be preceded by a preliminary report at 9 mos.

7. SPD is requested to prepare a feasibility study and make recommendations for installing video cameras in some or all police patrol cars. The study shall estimate implementation costs and benefits, including: an examination of best practices of other cities in the use of video cameras in patrol cars; desirability and value in addressing concerns over racial profiling; possible unintended impacts, legal liability; officer training requirements and labor issues. SPD shall submit its report and recommendations to the Public Safety Committee on or before March 31, 2001.

Adopted by the City Council the _____ day of _______________, 2000, and signed by me in open session in authentication of its adoption this _____ day of _______________, 2000. ____________________________________ President of the City Council

THE MAYOR CONCURRING: ________________________________________ Paul Schell, Mayor

Filed by me this _____ day of _______________, 2000. ________________________________________ City Clerk

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