05 LC 19
6477
Senate
Bill 148
By:
Senators Butler of the 55th, Miles of the 43rd, Fort of the 39th, Tate of the
38th, Henson of the 41st and others
A
BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
AN ACT
To
amend Chapter 1 of Title 40 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating
to general provisions relative to motor vehicles and traffic, so as to require
policies that prohibit law enforcement officers from impermissibly using race or
ethnicity in determining whether to stop a motorist; to require annual training
of law enforcement officers on impermissible uses of race and ethnicity in
stopping vehicles; to require law enforcement officers to document the race,
ethnicity, and gender of a motorist and passengers; to provide for other matters
relative thereto; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other
purposes.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION
1.
Chapter
1 of Title 40 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to general
provisions relative to motor vehicles and traffic, is amended by inserting at
the end thereof a new Code Section 40-1-8 to read as follows:
"40-1-8.
Law
enforcement officers shall not use a
persońs
race or ethnicity to form probable cause or reasonable suspension to stop a
vehicle but may use a
persońs
race or ethnicity to confirm a previously obtained description of a
suspect.
(1)
Each state and local law enforcement agency shall adopt a policy and implement
an annual training program regarding racial profiling that provides and
instructs that a law enforcement officer shall not use a
persońs
race or ethnicity to form probable cause or reasonable suspicion to stop a
vehicle but may use a
persońs
race or ethnicity to confirm a previously obtained description of a
suspect.
(2)
Each time a state or local law enforcement officer stops a motor vehicle, that
officer shall document the following information in a public record whose format
shall be determined by the Department of Motor Vehicle Safety:
(A)
The gender, race, and ethnicity of the driver;
(B)
The alleged violation that led to the stop;
(C)
Whether the vehicle, personal effects, driver, or any passenger was searched
and, if any passenger or his or her effects are searched, the
passengeŕs
gender, race, and ethnicity;
(D)
Whether a search was conducted pursuant to consent, probable cause, or
reasonable suspicion to suspect a crime, including the approximate duration of
the search and the basis for the request for consent or the circumstances
establishing probable cause or reasonable suspicion;
(E)
Whether contraband was found, the type and approximate amount of contraband, and
whether contraband was seized;
(F)
Whether any arrest, citation, or any oral or written warning was issued as a
result of the stop;
(G)
Whether the officer making the stop encountered any physical resistance, whether
the officer engaged in the use of force, and whether injuries resulted;
and
(H)
Whether the circumstances surrounding the stop were the subject of any
investigation and the results of that investigation.
(3)
Law enforcement agencies and the Attorney General may review the data required
to be collected under paragraph (4) of this Code section to determine whether
members of minority groups are disproportionately stopped, searched, warned, or
arrested and may take appropriate remedial action.
(4)
Nothing in this Code section shall be construed to alter the requirements for
determining probable cause or reasonable suspicion under the Constitution of
the United States or the Constitution of the State of
Georgia."
SECTION
2.
All
laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.