RESOLUTION NO. 010453

Recognizing and supporting legitimate, unbiased, empirically based profiling as an appropriate tool for the fight against crime.

WHEREAS, it is the duty of all law enforcement officials to serve and protect all citizens in a manner that reflects respect for human dignity and the role of law; and

WHEREAS, Kansas City, Missouri, believes the first duty of law enforcement is the prevention of crime and ensuring that laws are enforced equally and impartially, and

WHEREAS, the overwhelming majority of law enforcement officers perform their duties in a professional and impartial manner free from bias, bigotry and discrimination; and

WHEREAS, national attention has been focused on the inappropriate use of profiling as a discriminatory practice by some law enforcement officials:

1. According to a 1999 Gallup Poll Social Audit on Black/White Relations in the U.S.:

(A) 59% of sample of national adults aged 18 and older say that racial profiling is widespread.

(B) 81% percent of the American public says they disapprove of the practice.

2. According to the American Civil Liberties Union Freedom Network: In 2000, Missouri joined Kansas, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Washington and the states of North Carolina and Connecticut enacting laws that require law enforcement agencies to collect data during traffic stops; and

WHEREAS, biased profiling and discriminatory enforcement based on such things as, but not limited to race, age, national origin, gender, physical appearance, sexual orientation, or religion has no place in a free society built on principals of equality for all; and

WHEREAS, biased profiling, particularly racial profiling (defined in the aforementioned Gallup Poll Social Audit on Black/White Relations in the U.S., as the practice by which police officers stop motorists of certain racial or ethnic groups because the officers believe that these groups are more likely than others to commit certain types of crimes) and discriminatory practices undermine the sacred trust and respect between law enforcement and the community and erode the basic foundations of trust affecting policing; NOW, THEREFORE,

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF KANSAS CITY:

That the Mayor and Council recognize and support legitimate, unbiased, empirically based profiling as an appropriate tool for the fight against crime: and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Kansas City, Missouri, supports federal legislation that provides financial support to state, county and local law enforcement agencies for training programs, equipment, data collection and research as measures to prevent further incidents and allegations of bias profiling.

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