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.


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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

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1    AN ACT concerning racial profiling.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
5Eliminate Racial Profiling Act.
 
6    Section 5. Definitions. In this Act:
7    "Covered program" means any program or activity funded in
8whole or in part with funds made available under:
9        (1) the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant
10    Program under part E of title I of the federal Omnibus
11    Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3750
12    et seq.); and
13        (2) the "Cops on the Beat" program under part Q of
14    title I of the federal Omnibus Crime Control and Safe
15    Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796dd et seq.), except that
16    no program, project, or other activity specified in Section
17    1701(b)(13) of that part shall be a covered program.
18    "Governmental body" means any department, agency, special
19purpose district, or other instrumentality of State or local
20government.
21    "Hit rate" means the percentage of stops and searches in
22which a law enforcement officer finds drugs, a gun, or other
23contraband that leads to an arrest. The hit rate is calculated

 

 

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1by dividing the total number of searches by the number of
2searches that yield contraband. The hit rate is complementary
3to the rate of false stops.
4    "Law enforcement agency" means any State or local public
5agency engaged in the prevention, detection, or investigation
6of violations of criminal laws.
7    "Law enforcement agent" means any State or local official
8responsible for enforcing criminal laws, including police
9officers and other agents of a law enforcement agency.
10    "Prevailing party" means a person:
11        (1) who obtains some of his or her requested relief
12    through a judicial judgment in his or her favor;
13        (2) who obtains some of his or her requested relief
14    through any settlement agreement approved by the court; or
15         (3) whose pursuit of a non-frivolous claim was a
16    catalyst for a unilateral change in position by the
17    opposing party relative to the relief sought.
18    "Racial profiling" means the practice of a law enforcement
19agent or agency relying, to any degree, on actual or perceived
20race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, gender
21identity, or sexual orientation in selecting which person to
22subject to routine or spontaneous investigatory activities or
23in deciding upon the scope and substance of law enforcement
24activity following the initial investigatory procedure, except
25when there is trustworthy information, relevant to the locality
26and time frame, that links a person with a particular

 

 

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1characteristic described in this paragraph to an identified
2criminal incident or scheme.
3    "Routine or spontaneous investigatory activities" means
4the following activities by a law enforcement agent:
5        (1) interviews;
6        (2) traffic stops;
7        (3) pedestrian stops;
8        (4) frisks and other types of body searches;
9        (5) consensual or nonconsensual searches of a person,
10    property, or his of her possessions, including a vehicle,
11    of persons using any form of public or private
12    transportation, including motorists and pedestrians;
13        (6) data collection and analysis, assessments, and
14    predicated investigations; or
15        (7) any other type of law enforcement encounters
16    compiled for or by the Department of State Police and the
17    Racial Profiling Prevention and Data Oversight Board under
18    the Racial Profiling Prevention and Data Oversight Act.
19    "Reasonable request" means all requests for information,
20except for those that:
21        (1) are immaterial to the investigation;
22        (2) would result in the unnecessary disclosure of
23    personal information; or
24        (3) would place a severe burden on the resources of the
25    law enforcement agency given its size.
26    "Unit of local government" means:

 

 

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1        (1) any municipal, county, township, or other general
2    purpose political subdivision of this State;
3        (2) any law enforcement district or jurisdiction that:
4            (A) is established under applicable State law; and
5            (B) has the authority to, and in a manner
6        independent of other State entities, establish a
7        budget and impose taxes.
 
8    Section 10. Racial profiling prohibition. No law
9enforcement agent or law enforcement agency shall engage in
10racial profiling.
 
11    Section 15. Enforcement.
12    (a) The State or a person injured by racial profiling may
13enforce Section 10 in a civil action for declaratory or
14injunctive relief, filed in a State court of competent
15jurisdiction.
16    (b) In any action brought under this Act, relief may be
17obtained against:
18        (1) any governmental body that employed any law
19    enforcement agent who engaged in racial profiling;
20        (2) any agent of a governmental body who engaged in
21    racial profiling; and
22        (3) any person with supervisory authority over any law
23    enforcement agent who engaged in racial profiling.
24    (c) Proof that the routine or spontaneous investigatory

 

 

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1activities of law enforcement agents in a jurisdiction have had
2a disparate impact on persons with a particular racial
3profiling characteristic shall constitute prima facie evidence
4of a violation of this Act.
5    (d) Upon motion, a court shall award reasonable attorney's
6fees and costs, including expert witness fees and other
7litigation expenses, to a plaintiff who is a prevailing party
8in any action brought: (1) under subsection (b) of this
9Section; or (2) to enforce a right arising under the Illinois
10Constitution. In awarding reasonable attorney's fees, the
11court shall consider the degree to which the relief obtained
12relates to the relief sought.
 
13    Section 20. Policies to eliminate racial profiling.
14    (a) Law enforcement agencies shall:
15        (1) maintain adequate policies and procedures designed
16    to eliminate racial profiling; and
17        (2) cease existing practices that permit racial
18    profiling.
19    (b) The policies and procedures described in paragraph (1)
20of subsection (a) shall include:
21        (1) a prohibition on racial profiling;
22        (2) training on racial profiling issues as part of law
23    enforcement training;
24        (3) the collection of data under rules adopted under
25    Section 45;

 

 

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1        (4) procedures for receiving, investigating, and
2    responding meaningfully to complaints alleging racial
3    profiling by law enforcement agents; and
4        (5) any other policies and procedures the Attorney
5    General determines to be necessary to eliminate racial
6    profiling by law enforcement agencies.
 
7    Section 25. Policies required for grants.
8    (a) An application by a unit of local government or a law
9enforcement agency for funding under a covered program shall
10include a certification that the unit of local government or
11law enforcement agency, and any law enforcement agency to which
12it will distribute funds:
13        (1) maintains adequate policies and procedures
14    designed to eliminate racial profiling; and
15        (2) has eliminated any existing practices that permit
16    or encourage racial profiling.
17    (b) The policies and procedures described in paragraph (1)
18of subsection (a) shall include:
19        (1) a prohibition on racial profiling;
20        (2) training on racial profiling issues as part of law
21    enforcement training;
22        (3) the collection of data under the rules adopted by
23    the Attorney General under Section 45; and
24        (4) participation in an administrative complaint
25    procedure or independent audit program that meets the

 

 

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1    requirements of Section 30 of this Act.
 
2    Section 30. Attorney General; rulemaking authority.
3    (a) Not later than 6 months after the effective date of
4this Act and in consultation with stakeholders, including law
5enforcement agencies and community, professional, research,
6and civil rights organizations, the Attorney General shall
7adopt rules for the operation of administrative complaint
8procedures and independent audit programs to ensure that the
9programs and procedures provide an appropriate response to
10allegations of racial profiling by law enforcement agents or
11agencies. The rules shall contain guidelines that ensure the
12fairness, effectiveness, and independence of the
13administrative complaint procedures and independent auditor
14programs.
15    (b) If the Attorney General determines that the recipient
16of a grant from any covered program is not in compliance with
17the requirements of Section 20 or any rule adopted under
18subsection (a) of this Section, the Attorney General shall
19order the distributing agency to withhold, in whole or in part,
20at the discretion of the Attorney General, funds for one or
21more grants to the recipient under the covered program, until
22the recipient establishes compliance.
23    (c) The Attorney General shall provide notice and an
24opportunity for private parties to present evidence to the
25Attorney General that a recipient of a grant from any covered

 

 

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1program is not in compliance with the requirements of this Act.
 
2    Section 35. Data collection.
3    (a) The Attorney General may, through competitive grants or
4contracts, carry out a 2-year demonstration project for the
5purpose of developing and implementing data collection
6programs on the hit rates for stops and searches by law
7enforcement agencies. The data collected shall be
8disaggregated by race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, and
9religion.
10        (1) The Attorney General shall provide not more than 10
11    grants or contracts under this Section.
12        (2) Grants or contracts under this Section shall be
13    awarded to law enforcement agencies that serve communities
14    in which there is a significant concentration of racial or
15    ethnic minorities and that are not already collecting data
16    voluntarily beyond that which is required under the Traffic
17    Stop Statistical Study Act.
18    (b) Activities carried out with a grant under this Section
19shall include:
20        (1) developing a data collection tool and reporting the
21    compiled data to the Attorney General; and
22        (2) training of law enforcement personnel on data
23    collection, particularly for data collection on hit rates
24    for stops and searches.
25    (c) Not later than 3 years after the effective date of this

 

 

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1Act, the Attorney General shall enter into a contract with a
2State institution of higher education to analyze the data
3collected by each of the grantees funded under this Section.
 
4    Section 40. Best practices development grants.
5    (a) The Attorney General may make grants to law enforcement
6agencies and units of local government to develop and implement
7best practice devices and systems to eliminate racial
8profiling.
9    (b) The funds provided under subsection (a) of this Section
10shall be used for programs that include the following purposes:
11        (1) The development and implementation of training to
12    prevent racial profiling and to encourage more respectful
13    interaction with the public.
14        (2) The acquisition and use of technology to facilitate
15    the accurate collection and analysis of data.
16        (3) The development and acquisition of feedback
17    systems and technologies that identify officers or units of
18    officers engaged in, or at risk of engaging in, racial
19    profiling or other misconduct.
20        (4) The establishment and maintenance of an
21    administrative complaint procedure or independent auditor
22    program.
23    (c) The Attorney General shall ensure that grants under
24this Section are awarded in a manner that reserves an equitable
25share of funding for small and rural law enforcement agencies.

 

 

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1    (d) Each law enforcement agency or unit of local government
2desiring a grant under this Section shall submit an application
3to the Attorney General at the time, in the manner, and
4accompanied by the information as the Attorney General may
5reasonably require.
 
6    Section 45. Rulemaking.
7    (a) Not later than 6 months after the effective date of
8this Act, the Attorney General, in consultation with
9stakeholders, including State and local law enforcement
10agencies and community, professional, research, and civil
11rights organizations, shall adopt rules for the collection and
12compilation of data under Sections 15 and 20 of this Act.
13    (b) The rules adopted under subsection (a) shall:
14        (1) provide for the collection of data on all routine
15    or spontaneous investigatory activities;
16        (2) provide that the data collected shall:
17            (A) be collected by race, ethnicity, national
18        origin, gender, and religion, as perceived by the law
19        enforcement officer;
20            (B) include the date, time, and location of the
21        investigatory activities;
22            (C) include detail sufficient to permit an
23        analysis of whether a law enforcement agency is
24        engaging in racial profiling; and
25            (D) not include personally identifiable

 

 

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1        information;
2        (3) provide that a standardized form shall be made
3    available to law enforcement agencies for the submission of
4    collected data to the Attorney General;
5        (4) provide that law enforcement agencies shall
6    compile data on the standardized form made available under
7    paragraph (3) of this subsection (b), and submit the form
8    to the Attorney General;
9        (5) provide that law enforcement agencies shall
10    maintain all data collected under this Act for not less
11    than 4 years;
12        (6) include guidelines for setting comparative
13    benchmarks, consistent with best practices, against which
14    collected data shall be measured; and
15        (7) provide that the Attorney General shall:
16            (A) analyze the data for any statistically
17        significant disparities, including:
18                (i) disparities in the percentage of drivers
19            or pedestrians stopped relative to the proportion
20            of the population passing through the
21            neighborhood;
22                (ii) disparities in the hit rate;
23                (iii) disparities in the frequency of searches
24            performed on racial or ethnic minority drivers and
25            the frequency of searches performed on
26            non-minority drivers; and

 

 

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1            (B) not later than 3 years after the effective date
2        of this Act, and annually thereafter:
3                (i) prepare a report regarding the findings of
4            the analysis conducted under subparagraph (A) of
5            this paragraph (7);
6                (ii) provide the report to the General
7            Assembly; and
8                (iii) make the report available to the public,
9            including on the Attorney General's website.
10    (c) In addition to the rules under subsections (a) and (b)
11of this Section, the Attorney General may adopt any other rules
12he or she determines are necessary to implement this Act.
 
13    Section 50. Publication of data. The Attorney General shall
14provide to the General Assembly and make available to the
15public, together with each annual report described in Section
1625, the data collected under this Act, excluding any personally
17identifiable information.
 
18    Section 55. Reports. Not later than 2 years after the
19effective date of this Act, and annually thereafter, the
20Attorney General shall submit to the General Assembly a report
21on racial profiling by law enforcement agencies. The reports to
22the General Assembly shall be filed with the Clerk of the House
23of Representatives and the Secretary of the Senate in
24electronic form only, in the manner that the Clerk and the

 

 

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1Secretary shall direct. Each report submitted shall include:
2    (1) a summary of data collected under paragraph (3) of
3subsection (b) of Section 15 and paragraph (3) of subsection
4(b) of Section 20 and from any other reliable source of
5information regarding racial profiling in the State;
6    (2) a discussion of the findings in the most recent report
7prepared by the Attorney General under paragraph (7) of
8subsection (b) of Section 45;
9    (3) the status of the adoption and implementation of
10policies and procedures by law enforcement agencies under this
11Act; and
12    (4) a description of any other policies and procedures that
13the Attorney General believes would facilitate the elimination
14of racial profiling.