GETTING THE FACTS ON PROFILING

In June President Clinton instructed federal law enforcement agencies
to collect race and gender data on people they stop or arrest, in a
move to end the perceived practice of racial profiling, derisively
referred to as ``driving while black or brown.''

Clinton also expressed a wish that state and local agencies begin
collecting such data, too.

NOW TWO STATE legislators, Sen. Kendrick Meek, D- Miami, and Rep. Tony
Hill, D-Jacksonville, have proposed legislation that would create a
task force to study traffic stops in Florida. The working version of
the bill would require that law enforcement agencies keep track of a
wide range of information on each stop, and file reports with the
attorney general's office, which would have to analyze them for
evidence of profiling. This would not be a bad idea, especially if the
right data are collected.

The Florida Highway Patrol has already started to develop a study
aimed at making that determination, and will begin collecting the
information on Jan. 1. But whether or not such records are kept by the
FHP or a Legislature-created body, more facts need to be collected
than just about race if solid evidence of profiling is to be found.

Many cities across the nation have collected profiling data, but the
information is often useless because only the race of the person
stopped by officers is noted. Is the fact that more minorities than
whites are stopped by police officers proof of profiling? Hardly.

To be fully effective, an array of facts has to be collected, such as
the age of the person stopped, whether a citation or warning was
issued, whether the person or his vehicle was searched, and most
importantly, why the person was stopped in the first place.

Florida has had its share of high-profile cases of alleged profiling,
most notably involving an Interstate 95 drug squad in Volusia County
that was shut down in 1992 after records showed nearly 70 percent of
the motorists the unit stopped were minorities. Recently there were
complaints of stops along the Florida Turnpike. We need to know more
about those stops.

There is no doubt collecting all this data would be burdensome, and
that analysis of that data could still end up being inconclusive. But
without such a database, the perception of racial profiling will
persist. We can't be sure without the additional information, so let's
get it.