Department received zero racial profiling complaints
BUDA — Racial profiling in law enforcement is a discriminatory practice by officials who target individuals on suspicion of a crime based on their race, ethnicity, religion or national origin.
In a concerted effort to prevent this, Buda Police Chief Bo Kidd shared the police department’s 2022 racial profiling report with city council on Feb. 21.
According to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, the chief administrator of a law enforcement agency must submit an annual racial profiling report to the commission, as well as the governing body of each county/ municipality served by the agency.
Kidd noted that Buda PD did not receive any racial profiling complaints in 2022 and electronically documents “every stop, every civilian encounter” with body-worn cameras.
“If there ever are complaints or issues, we do have the ability to go back and review,” Kidd said. “There is oversight in place. All of our sergeants have daily observation reports that they must [compile] monthly … One of the great values there for a supervisor is the training opportunity. If you see an officer that maybe could’ve handled a call or traffic stop better, it gives you an opportunity to make those corrections and truly see how your officers are performing even when you’re not on scene.”
According to the department’s full report, its racial profiling policy:
• Strictly prohibits peace officers from engaging in racial profiling.
• Implements a process for individuals to file a complaint with the department if they believe a peace officer has engaged in racial profiling towards them.
• Provides public education relating to the agency’s complaint process.
• Requires appropriate corrective action to be taken against a peace officer who, after an investigation, is shown to have engaged in racial profiling.
• Requires the collection of information relating to motor vehicle stops where a warning or citation is issued and arrests made as a result, including: the detained individual’s race/ ethnicity and if the peace officer knew of their race/ ethnicity before detaining, if a search was conducted and consented to by the detained individual, whether the peace officer used physical force that resulted in bodily injury during the stop, and the location and reason for the stop.
Kidd pointed out that the demographic data collected and included in the report spans the region, not just Buda specifically.
“I always look beyond our city’s demographics because historically, 75% or [more] of our stops are actually people who are not Buda citizens. So I think it’s better to look regionally when you look at traffic stops,” Kidd said.
Some of the key findings in the report show that there were 966 traffic stops in 2022. Of those stopped, 66% were males as opposed to fewer than 34% females. Kidd said that this disparity is “typical” and consistent throughout the state.
Peace officers did not know the race or ethnicity of 954 (just under 99%) of individuals prior to the stop. Of those stopped, 57.04% were white, 32.6% were Hispanic, 8.28% were Black, 1.76% were Asian and 0.31% were Alaska Native.
No physical force resulting in bodily injury was used during any of the stops. Citations were issued in 477 of the stops while 484 received a written warning. Only one stop resulted in a citation and arrest and four stops with a written warning and arrest.
A search was conducted in only 45 of the stops. Twentynine of the searches were due to probable cause, with six others having contraband in plain view and six consenting to a search. Additional causes for search were two incidents to arrest and two inventory stops.
“We give you tons of accolades, but [I] tip my hat off to you for creating a culture where when you look at the population of the city, your policing matches the population of the city,” council member LaVonia Horne-Williams said following the presentation. “You don’t have over-policing of the minority community here in Buda … Thank you for generating that through all of your officers.”
The full report with more in-depth demographic breakdowns can be viewed at bit.ly/3IKs4nK.
