2005 Rhode Island Code - § 31-21.2-6 — Continued data collection.

    (a) The Rhode Island Justice Commission is authorized to and shall conduct a study of routine traffic stops by the Rhode Island State Police and each municipal police department in order to determine whether racial profiling is occurring, and to examine whether searches of vehicles and motorists are being conducted in a disparate manner.

   (b) The Rhode Island Justice Commission shall, not later than forty-five (45) days after enactment of this act, develop a form to be used by each police officer when making a traffic stop to record the data required under this chapter, which form shall include the information listed in § 31-21.1-4.

   (c) The Rhode Island Justice Commission shall advise the Rhode Island State Police and each municipal police department of the date that data collection shall commence. Data collection shall begin not later than October 1, 2004, but may begin prior to that time upon notification to police departments from the Rhode Island Justice Commission.

   (d) A traffic stop data collection card shall be completed for each routine traffic stop by the Rhode Island State Police and municipal police department during the term of this study.

   (e) Upon commencement of data collection, and monthly thereafter, each municipal police department and the Rhode Island State Police shall transmit to the Rhode Island Justice Commission all forms collected to date of motorists who were stopped, and any other information the police department or the Rhode Island State Police deem appropriate. Data collection shall continue for twelve (12) months following commencement of data collection.

   (f) Appropriate funding shall be made available to implement the provision of this chapter, and completion of this study shall be contingent upon such funding.

   (g) The study shall include a multivariate analysis of the collected data in accordance with general statistical standards, and shall be substantially similar to the study prepared pursuant to chapter 21.1 of this title. The study shall be prepared by an organization, company, person or other entity with sufficient expertise in the field of statistics and the study of traffic stop data collection to assist with the implementation of this chapter, and chosen by the Rhode Island Justice Commission. The study shall be released not later than eighteen (18) months after commencement of data collection under this chapter. The report, findings and conclusions submitted pursuant to this subsection shall be a public record.

   (h) The Rhode Island Justice Commission shall be exempt from the provisions of chapter 2 of title 37 in connection with its procurement of equipment and services necessary to the implementation of this chapter.

   (i) On a quarterly basis a summary report of the monthly data provided by each police department and the state police for that quarterly period shall be issued. The report shall be a public record. The summary report shall include a monthly breakdown by race for each police department of the number of traffic stops made and of searches conducted, and any other information deemed appropriate by the Rhode Island Justice Commission. The report shall be released not more than ninety (90) days after the end of each quarterly period. No information revealing the identity of any individual shall be contained in the report.

   (j) Every law enforcement agency collecting data pursuant to this chapter shall ensure that supervisory personnel review each officer's stop and search documentation and data results on a weekly basis to ensure compliance with all policies, prohibitions and documentation requirements.

   (k) The head of every law enforcement agency subject to this chapter, or his or her designee, shall review the data on a regular basis in an effort to determine whether any racial disparities in the agency's traffic stops enforcement exists, and to appropriately respond to any such disparities.

   (l) An organization chartered for the purpose of combating discrimination, racism, or of safeguarding civil liberties, or of promoting full, free, or equal employment opportunities, and/or the Rhode Island Justice Commission may seek appropriate relief in a civil action against any police department for failing to collect or transmit the data required in this chapter, and may be awarded its costs, including attorneys' fees, for bringing such an action. As a condition precedent to the filing of a civil action by an organization under this section, the organization shall send a notice to the Rhode Island Justice Commission identifying the police department which is failing to collect or transmit the data and the organization shall then allow fifteen (15) days to elapse.

   (m) The Rhode Island Justice Commission shall consult with community, police and civil rights representatives, as the executive director deems appropriate, in the development of the form required by subsection (b) and on other issues that arise relating to the implementation and enforcement of this chapter.