Voters sent a clear message to elected officials last November: We want smaller government.

One area the state unduly meddled in local affairs is law enforcement. Last session, the Democrat-controlled legislature and Gov. Jim Doyle approved a law requiring law enforcement officials to collect and record information every time an officer stops a car. Among other things, that information includes the race of the driver, race of passengers and the duration of the stop. The information must be entered on a data collection form whether or not a citation is issued.

 

Ostensibly, this law is enacted to detect whether racial profiling is an issue. In practice it creates a time-consuming headache.

 

Let me be clear: Racial profiling is wrong and completely unacceptable. We have trust in the honesty and integrity of Wisconsin’s law enforcement community. We have confidence in law enforcement training, recruitment and discipline for problem officers.

 

Complying with the data collection law is time-consuming, repetitive and creates safety concerns. Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmalling is so concerned about time and safety issues, he told his deputies not to fill out the forms. This is an instance of state government adopting a big brother mentality and meddling in local issues.

 

Legislators in Madison make laws and say that they are easy to follow. When the people at the front lines asked to comply with laws say otherwise, it carries weight.

 

The law enforcement community is facing budget difficulties the same as other communities. There is not a decreased need for law enforcement due to the downturn in the economy. As departments face reduced budgets, diminished resources must be directed without compromising public safety.

 

In addition to any citation issued, the law enforcement official is required to fill out a 46-field form about the stop. Much of the information is the same as the citation information. This is required for every stop, regardless of outcome, and required for every passenger in the vehicle.

Most agree officers’ time is better-utilized fighting crime rather than sitting on the side of the road filling out repetitive paperwork. That is not to mention the invasion of privacy for passengers, and assumptions law enforcement must exercise about passengers’ race, because officers cannot ask a passenger’s race.

 

In addition, the Department of Justice manages an electronic system that facilitates the exchange of information between law enforcement agencies by allowing agencies to look into the content of files at the national, state and local levels. Much of the information sought by the current data collection requirements could be found through that system.

 

There is the issue of officers’ safety. The longer officers are sitting ducks on the side of the road, the greater the chance of an accident.

 

None of that touches on another issue incidental to the current law. More and more, Americans are a multiracial group. Trying to box passengers and drivers into a certain race box on the data collection form could be a difficult and inaccurate process.

 

Going forward, the state legislature will continue to find ways to ease unnecessary burdens on local officials. Repealing this data collection mandate of duplicate information is a good place to start.

 

If you have comments on this or any other issue, please contact me at Sen.Lazich@legis.wisconsin.gov,  Senator Mary Lazich, State Capitol, P.O. Box 7882 Madison, WI 53707 or 1-800-334-1442.