By Carrie Antlfinger
Associated Press Writer
MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Some sheriff's departments in Wisconsin are ignoring a new racial profiling law and one lawmaker plans to introduce a bill to change it.
As of Jan. 1, about 650 law enforcement agencies in the state had to start collecting the age, zip code, gender and ethnicity of drivers pulled over and their passengers in an effort to determine whether deputies and officers are stopping drivers on the basis of race.
Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth and Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmaling said filling out the new form, either by hand or on the squad's computer, takes too long, the extra time spent could impact officer safety and deputies already note much of the information on citations.
"Don't tie up my officers," said Beth, who along with Schmaling directed their deputies not to comply. "We are already struggling with the amount of deputies we have on the road. The amount of calls we have, the numbers keep going up. This is just another restriction, mandate we have."
Sen. Mary Lazich, R-New Berlin, said she plans to introduce a bill within the next month or so that would eliminate the requirement, after hearing the process was too time consuming.
Tami Jackson, spokeswoman for the Office of Justice Assistance, which collects the data, said while there are no penalties written into the law, there is a procedure in Wisconsin law that allows citizens to order a government official to perform a mandatory duty.
If the court gets involved and the officials do not comply, they could be found in contempt. She said OJA has not decided yet how it will treat such agencies.
"It was our expectation that all law enforcement agencies would follow the law and participate regardless of their personal feelings," she said.
The names of agencies that do not comply will become public when the data is analyzed in a report next summer. She also noted it could affect departments when they apply for state or federal grants, which sometimes take into consideration whether departments honor such requirements.
State Rep. Tamara Grigsby, D-Milwaukee, was one of the original authors of the effort. Her spokesman Kevin Benish said Grigsby was surprised at such reaction given that law enforcement was closely involved in forming the new law and there were public hearings across the state.
He said Grigsby won't ignore concerns but she suspects the law may just need an adjustment period, since other departments are instituting it without issues.
"It was a very open process to create this initiative," he said. "We are really hoping people will follow the letter of the law."
Gov. Jim Doyle signed the law in 2009. Law enforcement has 30 days to send the data to OJA, either through a program many departments have in squads -- Badger Traffic and Criminal Software, also called Badger Tracs -- or a web tool.
Schmaling and Beth said they don't oppose sharing the information, but questioned why the state couldn't take information from the citations.
Beth said his deputies issued 8,251 citations in 2010. He estimated that complying with the law would have meant an extra 820 hours.
Schmaling said his deputies followed the new law for three days but it was too time consuming and deputies felt their safety was in jeopardy by paying so much attention on the form in the squad.
Schmaling estimated that it took between five and 15 extra minutes per stop, depending on the number of passengers involved. He said often deputies must guess the race, since they are not allowed to ask, and that most times the guess is not accurate.
He said he would be willing to help come up with a better way to get the data to the state.
"I understand we are not above the law," he said. "I have a tremendous amount of respect for the law. In fact, I have been sworn to uphold the law. But when it jeopardizes the safety of our deputies in the communities and puts them in harm's way, we have to take a stance on it."
Published: Tue, Jan 18, 2011
