| The purpose of this study is to examine Texas law enforcement chief executive officers' perceptions regarding the impact of the Texas Racial Profiling law since its implementation in 2001. The bill was hastily submitted for a vote without a potential impact assessment and little to no review by the law enforcement community, which resulted in confusion and frustration regarding how agencies were to comply with the law. Results indicate that law enforcement agencies of all sizes reported they were in compliance with the law and that senior staff and line officers were generally in favor of the law, while they tended toward neutral responses regarding the law's ability to prevent racial profiling, setting a tone of "zero tolerance" on racism, and its ability to actually measure racial profiling with the requirements set forth in the law. The study indicated statistically significant different responses between small and large agencies when asked about financial impact, outside assistance and purchase of new or upgraded software in an effort to comply with the law. The findings highlight the difference in resources available to small and large agencies when considering the need to collect, track, and analyze traffic stop data. Overall, the findings in this research stress the need to inquire further into perceptions of how this law has affected agency operations, budgets and morale. Additional research may benefit from focusing on the line officers' opinions regarding the law's impact on their ability to safely and adequately perform their duties. |
