Texas troopers ticketing Hispanic drivers as white. After Brian Collisters initial exchange with the DPS director at a meeting, Tom Vinger, the Press Secretary for the Texas Department of Public Safety, sent us an email stating the following Let us be unequivocal if the implication of your story is that Texas Department of Public Safety DPS troopers are engaging in racial profiling the department categorically rejects that assertion and takes great exception to any such insinuation. Racial profiling is against the law, against DPS policy, and is not tolerated by the department. Any allegation of racial profiling is taken very seriously by the department and thoroughly investigated. In fact, since 2. DPS Office of Inspector General has received only eight citizen complaints of alleged racial profiling against the Texas Highway Patrol. And after conducting investigations, including reviewing dash cam videos and other evidence, zero complaints were sustained. Implying or insinuating racial profiling without concrete evidence is slanderous and unfairly tarnishes the reputation of the commissioned men and women of the Texas Department of Public Safety, including approximately 3. Hispanic, who proudly risk their lives every day to protect and serve all residents and travelers in Texas, said Texas Highway Patrol Chief Luis Gonzalez. We are proud of these brave officers, and we thank the many members of the public who appreciate the job they do in adverse, dangerous situations and we thank them for their continued support. Fueling unfounded insinuations of racial profiling also has the potential to foster an anti police environment that not only hinders our ability to protect the communities we serve, but could even put officers lives at risk. Yahoo Lifestyle is your source for style, beauty, and wellness, including health, inspiring stories, and the latest fashion trends. Subscribe today for full access on your desktop, tablet, and mobile device. Subscribe Now. It is our great pleasure to launch the new Houston County Probate Office web site. It is our hope that the information and resources provided on the web site will be. In regard to data collection, we agree that it is important that the information be accurate, as it is included in the traffic stop data reports each year, which inform state leaders and the public of the racial or ethnic breakdown of drivers involved in DPS traffic stops. To be clear, the department takes its direction from the Texas Legislature and existing statutes in this case, the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Articles 2. We will continue to follow their direction on this important issue. It should also be noted that the concept of race and ethnicity are complicated issues. Many people get these two categories confused. For instance white is a category of race, while Hispanic is an ethnicity. Race and ethnicity are defined as Race a socially constructed category of identification based on physical characteristics, ancestry, historical affiliation, or shared culture. Ethnicity identity with or membership in a particular racial, national, or cultural group and observance of that groups customs, beliefs, and language. With this understanding, someone who identifies as Hispanic can also self identify as white. A major complicating factor as it relates to traffic stop data is that the national and state law enforcement information systems that driver license DL information interfaces with do not recognize the ethnicity category of Hispanic. Consequently, collecting 1. DPS. For instance, a Hispanic DPS employee recently received a traffic ticket from the Austin Police Department. Her last name is a non Hispanic surname however, she self identifies on her DL application as Hispanic. The Austin officer wrote white on the ticket. Conversely, when a white female of non Hispanic ethnicity gets married and takes on her spouses Hispanic surname, it does not mean that her race or ethnicity changes. Based on conversations with KXAN, the department has identified information interoperability limitations with database systems at the state and national level. Law enforcement information systems utilized by every law enforcement agency in the nation have five specific codes for race. Hispanic is not included in those codes as it is an ethnicity, not a race. In these systems, ethnicity can be included in an individuals record, but that field is supplemental it is not searchable and will not replace the race identifier. For example, even though someone may self identify as Hispanic on their Texas driver license application and are categorized as such in that system, that Hispanic code is not recognized in the race field of the state and national law enforcement databases. The systems will convert that Hispanic designation to unknown or other in the race field. The department will explore options to permit DPS traffic stop data to reflect the race or ethnicity designated by the applicant in the Texas DL system. That way, the information ultimately reflected in the traffic stop data collected by law enforcement would have been selected directly by the driver which would eliminate the need for troopers and other law enforcement officers to guess a drivers race or ethnicity. As a result, this process would improve the accuracy of the data. The department will also continue to explore options to further refine the data accuracy and will share those findings with state leaders and other law enforcement officials. The Hispanic designation on the Texas driver license application and in the Texas driver license system is relatively new in our state. Beginning in 2. 01. DL system was able to process the Hispanic ethnicity designation when an applicant chose to write Hispanic on their DL application. In 2. 01. 3, the DL application was changed so that Hispanic could specifically be selected by an applicant as an ethnicity option. A typical Texas driver license is valid for six years, so most drivers only visit a DL office once every six years and many who renew their license online will only visit a DL office every 1. Therefore, it will be quite some time before the driver license database will serve as an accurate indicator of drivers self identifying as Hispanic. The information guiding troopers on how to select the race or ethnicity of a traffic violator for data collection purposes is taught during the DPS Training Academy and is part of DPS procedures. That said, in an effort to enhance the precision of this important reporting requirement, the department will be issuing additional guidance to all members of the Texas Highway Patrol reminding them that they are to select race or ethnicity during a traffic stop based on the totality of the information they have at their disposal to the best of their ability. Troopers will also be reminded to change the race or ethnicity that auto populates within the citation or warning on their in car computer when appropriate. The department is exploring possible IT solutions that may help in this effort. Additionally the department will enhance this section of the Training Academy curriculum, and will also cover this procedure in the next Texas Highway Patrol in service training for current troopers. Keep in mind, that since the selection of a traffic violators raceethnicity is based on the officers best judgement, it serves to reason that there will always be some flaws just as trying to ascertain a persons ethnicity solely based on a surname is also flawed. That said, the department is committed to taking any steps necessary to increase the accuracy of this reporting. Questions have also been raised about drivers from Mexico who may have been classified as white. Given that there are on average more than 2 million traffic stops per year, these numbers would represent less than one percent of the total, and therefore would not be statistically significant. According to DPS statistics for the first nine months of 2. Mexico licensees were listed as Hispanic. It is important to note that potential errors in the designation of race or ethnicity by an officer does not in any way translate to racial profiling and any attempt to draw a direct correlation between potential data errors and conducting racial profiling is simply illogical and reckless. We would urge KXAN not to misconstrue this issue as racial profiling for all the reasons outlined in our response. Contributors Ben Friberg, David Barer, Rachel Garza, Josh Hinkle, Robert Sims, Calily Bien, Patrick Tolbert and Chad Cross.
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