License, registration, gender, sexual preference, political affiliation, and identifying race, please!
Just kidding…kind of.
A new law goes into effect in Virginia on Wednesday, requiring officers to ask citizens about their race during routine traffic stops.
WTOP News in DC brings us the story:
Under a new law that takes effect Wednesday, police officers across Virginia will be required to ask racial questions about the driver every time they make a traffic stop.
The law is called “The Community Policing Act” and was passed during the General Assembly’s legislative session in March.
It applies to sheriffs, local police officers and state police officers.
According to the bill’s sponsor, Del. Luke Torian, D-Prince William County, the legislation will help shed light on whether certain groups of people are being disproportionately targeted by police stops.
“The Community Policing Act prohibits law enforcement officers from engaging in bias-based profiling,” Torian said during the legislative session.
Arlingtonva.us has published a press release which states that not only is race one of the required questions in this new law, there's more:
– The Community Policing Act, Virginia House Bill 1250, takes effect July 1, 2020. This law requires law enforcement and State Police to collect certain information from the driver during all motor vehicle (traffic) and investigatory stops and prohibits law enforcement officers and State Police from engaging in bias-based policing.
The Arlington County Police Department (ACPD) will comply with the requirements of this bill and begin collecting required data on July 1, 2020. Members of the public should be aware of the new information collected, as it may involve the officer asking them additional questions on a traffic stop. On each stop conducted by a local law enforcement officer or State Police officer, the following information will be collected, based upon the officer’s observation or information provided to them by the driver:
- Race, ethnicity, age and gender of the person stopped
- The reason for the stop
- The location of the stop
- Whether a verbal warning, written citation or summons was issued or whether any person was arrested
- If a verbal warning, written citation or summons was issued or an arrest was made, the violation or crime charged
- Whether the vehicle or any person was searched
The data collected during traffic and investigatory stops will be reported to the Department of State and included in the Community Policing Reporting Database. Access to this database will be provided to the Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) for the purpose of analyzing data to determine the existence and prevalence of the practice of bias-based policing and the prevalence of complaints alleging the use of excessive force. In addition to the reporting required by the Community Policing Act, the Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility will continue to conduct internal audits on all allegations of misconduct and fully review and investigate incidents involving use of force."
We're supposed to live in a country that places judgement on your conduct, not how you look, not on your age, and not on your sexual identification.
Instead, a hyper focus has been put on all the things we're supposed to look beyond in an equal application of the law.
Will there now be racial quotas?
If the Democratic sponsored bill is meant to track "racial profiling," what happens when the idealogues don't like the results?
If one group is being stopped too often in the eyes of the politicians, will crimes be ignored?
It starts at routine traffic stops, but where will it end?
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