Association of Chiefs of Police Urges Legislature to Fund Racial Bias Study: Shenanigans!
We're calling shenanigans!
This is almost as ridiculous as it is deeply troubling.
This is the latest step taken by an emboldened police apparatus that has been left unchecked far too long. They know that the data serves as the foundation to policy, training, professional regulation and oversight. Without it, everything falls. Our communities have worked collaboratively with law enforcement for years to in efforts to ensure constitutional policing and not this?
Let's pretend that the Crime Research Group (CRG) is not the only Statistical Analysis Center (SAC) in the nation that is a non-profit, contracted to the State Department of Public Safety.
Are you there yet? Good, now remember, ALL agencies are required to collect race traffic data as prescribed in 20 V.S.A. § 2366. which says that "law enforcement agencies shall provide the data collected under this subsection to the vendor chosen" which was the CRG.
Do you see anything wrong yet?
20 V.S.A. § 2366 goes on to say that the data provided "shall be posted electronically in a manner that is analyzable and accessible to the public on the receiving agency's website.
That’s it.
Any independent third party that chooses to release a report on the raw data made available has every right to do so and in the event that such report contradict any (real or imaginary) report of the CRG, it serves as no grounds to invalidate all of the collected data.
The real questions are:
- Where are the data?
- Are they analyzable and accessible to the public?
- Can anyone even find the supposed report released by the CRG over the past couple of weeks?
The data are buried in the CRG web site in 79 separate spreadsheets. No trending or comparative analysis ability exists for a novice user (2015/206). Half of the department's do not have data posted for 2017 and no data exists for 2018.
So the real story here is in addition to dropping the ball on the training deadline last year that was mandated by 20 V.S.A. § 2358, Police across the state also blew off the data collection required by 20 V.S.A. § 2366.
...and the FIPP.
Meanwhile, profiling allegations in Colchester.
Can we please call some hearings on civilian oversight, Madam Chair Copeland-Hanzas and Madam Speaker Johnson?