by ANDY SEVILLA
Though Buda Police Chief Bo Kidd conceded that a racial profiling complaint filed against his department was determined “unfounded,” he remains reluctant to release the details behind the case.
Kidd admitted to the complaint after being pressed by the Hays Free Press, but rebuffed requests for materials surrounding the allegations.
“I do not think that would be public information,” Kidd wrote in an email. “If you would like to submit an open records request, I would need to get an AG (Attorney General) opinion.”
The Hays Free Press electronically filed an open records request under the Texas Public Information Act to Kidd and Buda City Secretary Danny Batts. A hand delivered written open records request for the information, was submitted to both, as well.
Kyle Police Chief Jeff Barnett said in his racial profiling report presentation to council that his department was free from racial profiling complaints in 2012.
“The people cited in Kyle do not develop the belief that our police officers target drivers or pedestrians based upon their race and/or ethnicity, but rather their actions and/or violations,” Barnett said. “We have a diverse staff of well trained professional officers that do not unlawfully use race and/or ethnicity as a reason to stop an individual.”
Police departments across Texas are mandated to submit an annual racial profiling report to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education (TCLEOSE) and their governing body by March 1, per state law. Both police chiefs presented their reports to their respective city councils at recent meetings.
The data showed that unauthorized searches of motor vehicles in Kyle and Buda in 2012 make up a huge portion of traffic stops – more than half in Kyle and two-third in Buda, and more Caucasians than all other ethnicities combined in both cities were stopped, according to recent police department reports presented to respective city councils.
In 2012, Kyle cops conducted 56 vehicle searches – 20 were consensual and 36 were based on probable cause; in Buda, police carried out 32 car searches – 11 consensual and 21 based on probable cause, each department’s yearly racial profiling report showed.
Of the 8,066 motor vehicle stops Kyle police (KPD) conducted, 7,874 resulted in a citation, 140 of them brought about an arrest and 52 stops necessitated both a citation and an arrest, according to Kyle’s report. Buda’s numbers did not categorize their 1,572 stops.
Buda’s data did show however that 73 percent – 1,096 – of motor vehicle stops conducted were of non-city residents, compared to 27 percent – 411 – residents. Those figures were not presented in Kyle’s data.
Barnett said state law requires the reporting of only motor vehicle stops where a citation was issued or an arrest conducted in the racial profiling report, therefore traffic stops made where only warnings were issued are not figured in.
Buda and Kyle police vehicles are equipped with video and audio equipment, according to each department’s chief, and therefore qualify for Tier 1 – partial exemption racial profiling reporting, thus their reports only illustrate details behind stops that led to a citation or an arrest.
The data shows that Kyle police stopped 4,516 Caucasians, 3,016 Hispanics, 435 African Americans, 71 Asians, 28 Middle Easterners and no Native Americans.
Buda’s data shows cops pulled-over 1,107 Caucasians, 289 Hispanics, 88 African Americans, seven Asians, 15 Middle Easterners, one Native American and 65 individuals where the ethnicity was classified as “other/unknown.”
Any police officer found to have engaged in racial profiling will be subject to corrective action, which can range from counseling, reprimand, diversity/sensitivity training or other appropriate training, paid or unpaid suspension, termination or any other actions deemed appropriate by the chief, according to KPD’s manual.
The annual reports are due by March 1. Barnett turned in the report to Kyle officials on Feb. 28 and presented the findings publicly at a regular council meeting March 19. Kidd presented his material publicly at a Feb. 19 Buda council meeting.
