Racial Profiling

No action was taken on an ACLU bill designed to address the state’s racial profiling problem; among other things, the bill would have strengthened the remedies available to victims and required continued data collection of traffic stops by police. At the same time, the State Police and the Department of Transportation were stymied in their push to make seat belt use in the state a primary offense. The ACLU, the Urban League and other community groups have strongly opposed that effort, arguing that allowing police to pull over suspected seat belt violators will only exacerbate racial profiling by law enforcement agencies.