Biased Policing (Racial Profiling)

The Biased Policing Task Force is a community/police collaboration that began in November 2000 to address the national issue of Racial Profiling.  The name of the Biased Policing Task Force selected to reflect that the issues addressed by the project go beyond race/ethnicity to include any discriminatory actions that were based on age, gender, sexual orientation or gender identity.

Data Collection Reports:

Mission Statement

The Task Force mission is to promote and enhance a healthy relationship between the Police Department and the community, through mutual accountability which promotes open communication and fosters respect and trust.

In order to accomplish this we will do the following:

·              Ensure that bias profiling does not occur

·              Compile statistical data as to the nature of police contacts

·              Development of policies that reflect this position

·              Create training programs for the community and the police department

·              Develop standards and monitor compliance.

The task force values safe neighborhoods and supports policing to ensure the safety of elders, youth, the disabled and all individuals.

Task Force Committees

The Task Force elected to divide its work between four sub-committees:

·              Policy and Procedures

·              Data Collection

·              Training and Youth issues

·              State Legislation

Members of the Task Force also worked with members of the Colorado General Assembly to craft House Bill 01-1114, “Concerning profiling in connection with law enforcement traffic stops.”

Policy and Procedures

On June 1, 2001, seven months of work culminated in the announcement of the Police Department’s Policy regarding Biased Policing and the procedures to collect data on all officer initiated citizen contacts; both traffic and pedestrian.  Officers complete a Citizen Contact Datasheet for every officer-initiated contact where the person was detained based on reasonable suspicion or probable cause.

Data Analysis

The Task Force Data Analysis Sub-Committee concluded that a meaningful analysis of contact data requires the collection of information for not less than one year.  This allows for the compilation of an adequate amount of citizen contact data and comparative benchmark measures.  This time frame will also average out the effects of special events or directed patrol activities, e.g., DUI enforcement campaigns, etc., as well as seasonal variations in crime and enforcement activities.  In addition, this is the same reporting period proscribed by the new state law.

To provide for a credible process, the raw data was analyzed by Dr. Deborah Thomas of the University of Colorado at Denver.  The Denver Police Department, in partnership with University of Colorado at Denver, is taking an exciting new approach in the analysis of the contact data.  Nationally, agencies have had their citizen contacts compared against census information.  We believe this is problematic and an inappropriate comparative methodology.  In Denver, citizen contact has been analyzed utilizing a Mission Driven Comparison approach.  In other words, police activity should be compared against the mission of:

·              Promoting public safety

·              Reducing crime

·              Addressing quality of life issues

·              Equitable enforcement of the law

The Task Force - Data Analysis Committee’s recommendations denote a more detailed perspective of the committee’s baseline assumptions and overall plan.

In the interest of providing a preliminary report to the community the Police Department released a summary of information on police – citizen contacts during the first three months of the new program (June through August 2001) in November.  This information is summary only and was been analyzed utilizing the "Mission Driven" model.