TRAFFIC STOP PAPERWORK MUST BE EASY FOR OFFICERS TO FILL OUT

THE San Jose police are trying to resolve the controversy over
``driving while black or brown'' with five keystrokes on the computers
in their cruisers. That may be too simple a solution for the
Legislature.

Charged by civil rights groups that they, like other police
departments nationwide, target minority males for traffic stops, the
San Jose police voluntarily have become the first California
department to track the people they pull over by race or ethnicity and
age. The program started last week, and Police Chief Bill Lansdowne is
in Washington this week, at Attorney General Janet Reno's request, to
explain what San Jose is doing.

Some departments are fighting the monitoring. But the line officers in
San Jose have embraced Lansdowne's response. One reason is that the
data collected won't identify specific officers. Another is that the
tracking won't add paperwork.

San Jose has added five questions to a computerized activity report
that officers must fill out. They provide information on the reason
for the stop; the race or ethnicity of the driver, as best the officer
can determine on his own; the age of the motorist; what action, if
any, was taken; and the number of vehicles stopped (whether it was
part of a speed trap).

By the use of multiple choice, the form takes seconds to do. For
example, NVBA1 means: No report was issued in a stop for a suspected
motor vehicle violation. An African-American adult was the driver. It
was a single vehicle stop.

San Jose did the most it could with its current computer setup, says
Capt. Rob Davis, who created the program. But that system falls far
short of what would be required of San Jose and all California police
departments under SB 78, a bill that Democratic Sen. Kevin Murray of
Los Angeles is sponsoring. That bill would mandate information on a
dozen questions, some requiring detailed information. The result would
add time and complexity, and require hand tabulation of data and
reports, Davis said.

Some of the additional information Murray is seeking would be useful
in determining the extent of racial targeting by the police: whether
the car and the individuals were searched and contraband was found,
for example. But other items, such as descriptions of property seized
under forfeiture laws and information on the passengers, would add
minimum benefit relative to the paperwork. Legislative analysts
couldn't estimate the cost statewide of gathering the information but
concluded it could be significant.

Murray's bill has passed the Senate and stands a good chance of
passing the Assembly as written. But his aide said the senator is
willing to simplify the requirements to meet some of the objections.

That's encouraging. We support requiring all police departments and
the highway patrol to monitor traffic stops by race and ethnicity. But
the system must be easy, quick and inexpensive. If it is, more will
follow San Jose's example. If not, departments will resist what some
unfortunately already resent.