H. B. 4184
(By Delegates
Moore, Guthrie,
Lawrence, Marshall and Shott
)
[Introduced January 26, 2010 ; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §30-29-3 and §30-29-10 of the Code of
West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to mandatory
anti-racial profiling training for certain law-enforcement
officers.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §30-29-3 and §30-29-10
of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 29. LAW-ENFORCEMENT TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION.
§30-29-3. Duties of the Governor's committee and the subcommittee.
Upon recommendation of the subcommittee, the Governor's
committee shall, by or pursuant to rule or regulation:
(a) Provide funding for the establishment and support of
law-enforcement training academies in the state;
(b) Establish standards governing the establishment and
operation of the law-enforcement training academies, including
regional locations throughout the state, in order to provide access to each law-enforcement agency in the state in accordance with
available funds;
(c) Establish minimum law-enforcement instructor
qualifications;
(d) Certify qualified law-enforcement instructors;
(e) Maintain a list of approved law-enforcement instructors;
(f) Promulgate standards governing the qualification of law-
enforcement officers and the entry-level law-enforcement training
curricula. These standards shall require satisfactory completion
of a minimum of four hundred classroom hours, shall provide for
credit to be given for relevant classroom hours earned pursuant to
training other than training at an established law-enforcement
training academy if earned within five years immediately preceding
the date of application for certification, and shall provide that
the required classroom hours can be accumulated on the basis of a
part-time curricula spanning no more than twelve months, or a full-
time curricula;
(g) Establish standards governing in-service law-enforcement
officer training curricula and in-service supervisory level
training curricula;
(h) Establish standards governing mandatory training to
prevent racial profiling, as defined in section ten of this
article, for both entry level and in-service training curricula as
required in this section;
(i) Certify law-enforcement officers, as provided in section five of this article;
(j) Seek supplemental funding for law-enforcement training
academies from sources other than the fees collected pursuant to
section four of this article;
(k) Any responsibilities and duties as the Legislature may,
from time to time, see fit to direct to the committee; and
(l) Submit, on or before the thirtieth day of September 30 of
each year, to the Governor, and upon request to individual members
of the Legislature, a report on its activities during the previous
year and an accounting of funds paid into and disbursed from the
special revenue account establish pursuant to section four of this
article.
§30-29-10. Prohibition of racial profiling.
(a) The Legislature finds that the use by a law-enforcement
officer of race, ethnicity, or national origin in deciding which
persons should be subject to traffic stops, stops and frisks,
questioning, searches, and seizures is a problematic law-
enforcement tactic. The reality or public perception of racial
profiling alienates people from police, hinders community policing
efforts, and causes law-enforcement officers and law-enforcement
agencies to lose credibility and trust among the people law-
enforcement is sworn to protect and serve. Therefore, the West
Virginia Legislature declares that racial profiling is contrary to
public policy and should not be used as a law-enforcement
investigative tactic.
(b) For purposes of this section:
(1) The term "law-enforcement officer" means any duly
authorized member of a law-enforcement agency who is authorized to
maintain public peace and order, prevent and detect crime, make
arrests and enforce the laws of the state or any county or
municipality thereof.
(2) The term "municipality" means any incorporated town or
city whose boundaries lie within the geographic boundaries of the
state.
(3) The term "racial profiling" means the practice of a law-
enforcement officer relying, to any degree, on race, ethnicity, or
national origin in selecting which individuals to subject to
routine investigatory activities, or in deciding upon the scope and
substance of law-enforcement activity following the initial routine
investigatory activity. Racial profiling does not include reliance
on race, ethnicity, or national origin in combination with other
identifying factors when the law-enforcement officer is seeking to
apprehend a specific suspect whose race, ethnicity, or national
origin is part of the description of the suspect.
(4) The term "state and local law-enforcement agencies" means
any duly authorized state, county or municipal organization
employing one or more persons whose responsibility is the
enforcement of laws of the state or any county or municipality
thereof.
(c) No law-enforcement officer shall engage in racial profiling.
(d) All state and local law-enforcement agencies shall
establish and maintain policies and procedures designed to
eliminate racial profiling. Policies and procedures shall include
the following:
(1) A prohibition on racial profiling;
(2) Independent procedures for receiving, investigating, and
responding to complaints alleging racial profiling by law-
enforcement officers;
(3) Procedures to discipline law-enforcement officers who
engage in racial profiling;
(4) Procedures to insure the inclusion of anti-racial
profiling training in new officer training and annual in-service
training; and
(4) (5) Any other policies and procedures deemed necessary by
state and local law-enforcement agencies to eliminate racial
profiling.
NOTE:
The purpose of this bill is to provide anti-racial
profiling training for certain officer trainees.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.