NCJ Number
184142
Journal
Law Enforcement Technology Volume: 27 Issue: 7 Dated: July 2000 Pages: 148-153
Date Published
July 2000
Length
6 pages
Annotation
The Law Enforcement Software Series from Information Technologies, Inc. (ITI) can help police agencies track police officer conduct, prevent the violation of citizens’ rights, and implement policies prohibiting racial profiling.
Abstract
Law enforcement is receiving increasing criticism for racial profiling. Police agencies have used profiling for many years; some of the profiles include skin color or ethnicity. Minority communities have long believed that race is a factor in police action. However, racial profiling did not become an issue of national concern until several lawsuits brought media attention to the issue and legislators proposed corrective action. ITI’s Law Enforcement Software Series offers a simple and inexpensive way for police agencies to collect data on date, time, location, race, and the reason for police-citizen contact. The ITI Query Tool helps agencies analyze the data by enabling the user to retrieve, sort, and export data to a spreadsheet application. The agency can measure statistics against the community demographics to determine whether the agency’s actions and statistics are consistent with the population being policed. This software can help agencies detect problems relating to racial profiling before they become severe. Table and photograph