For Immediate Release
April 20, 2000
Contact: Rusty Cheuvront or Mark Pfeiffer at (502) 564-2611

Patton Orders Study to Determine If Racial Profiling Exists

Frankfort, Ky. - “Stopping or searching individuals on the basis of race is not an effective law enforcement tool nor is it a defensible strategy for public protection,” Governor Patton said as he signed an Executive Order today to determine if racial profiling is a problem in state law enforcement.

“While an attempt to address this issue in the General Assembly was unsuccessful we believe this is an important policy issue that needs to be addressed.  It’s my opinion that state government should collect information and statistics regarding law enforcement activities at the state level to ensure the fairness of our law enforcement practices and ensure the protection of the civil rights of our people,” the governor added.

The order calls on all state-level law enforcement agencies and officials to begin collecting data on activities related to citations, drug related stops, and requests for consent to searches and warrant less searches.  Over the next three months, the information will be analyzed by the Secretary of the Justice Cabinet and the Kentucky Law Enforcement Council to better define racial profiling and assist them in designing and implementing a model policy to prohibit racial profiling.

Once the state has a model policy in place, the order urges all local law enforcement agencies and sheriff’s departments in Kentucky to either adopt the state’s policy or come up with one of their own.  

Governor Patton said, “I believe that tracking the race, ethnicity, and gender of those who are stopped and searched by law enforcement officials will help us determine whether problems related to racial profiling exist and can act as a guide in the development of solutions.” 

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