Police required to document race of drivers they stop
Thursday, January 1, 2004
By Kristen McQueary
Staff writer
Starting today, police officers statewide will begin tracking the race of drivers they pull over as part of a comprehensive, four-year study on racial profiling. Officers will be required to note the race of drivers they stop, the reason for the stop and whether they searched the vehicle. Police also must include their names and badge numbers and report the information to the Illinois Department of Transportation.
This is done to help prevent racial profiling. In Illinois, non-whites are routinely targeted. One of my friends, a mixed-race black woman, was pulled over for no reason. She was arrested and stripped searched. All charges were dropped and she sued the police.