Download This Version in Microsoft Word format
COMMITTEE REPORT
April 19, 2000
S. 778
Introduced by Senators Matthews, Patterson, Washington, Glover, Ford and Holland
S. Printed 4/19/00--S.
Read the first time April 29, 1999.
To whom was referred a Bill (S. 778), to amend Article 3, Chapter 6, Title 23 of the Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1976, relating to the Highway Patrol Division of the Department of Public Safety, by adding Section 23-6-180, etc., respectfully
That they have duly and carefully considered the same, and recommend that the same do pass with amendment:
Amend the bill, as and if amended, by striking all after the enacting words and inserting therein the following:
/ SECTION 1. Chapter 75, Title 15 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 15-75-70. (A) For the purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:
(1) 'civil rights deprivation' means the deprivation of any person or persons of any right, privilege, or immunity secured by the Constitution and laws of this State;
(2) 'pattern' means at least three acts. The first act must have occurred after the effective date of this chapter, and the last act must have occurred within three years after the commission of the first act in the pattern.
(B) A person who is deprived of any right, privilege, or immunity secured by the Constitution and laws of this State by a pattern of civil rights deprivations on the part of the State, a State agency, a political subdivision of the State, other entity of the State, or any employee thereof acting within the scope of his official duty may bring an action at law or in equity against the state entity or political subdivision that engaged in the pattern of civil rights deprivations."
SECTION 2. Chapter 1, Title 23 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 23-1-230. (A) Agencies, including, but not limited to, the Department of Public Safety, sheriff's departments, and municipal police departments, that employ law enforcement officers to enforce the traffic laws of this State must collect and maintain the following information regarding vehicle traffic enforcement:
(1) the number of drivers stopped for vehicle traffic enforcement where a warning or citation was issued;
(2) identifying characteristics of the drivers stopped, including the race or ethnicity, age, and gender;
(3) the alleged traffic violation that led to the stop;
(4) whether the vehicle, personal effects, driver, or any passengers were searched;
(5) the basis for the search; and
(6) the race or ethnicity of the officer.
(B) The information required by subsection (A) is not required to be collected in connection with driving under the influence checkpoints or other types of roadblocks, vehicle checks, or checkpoints that are consistent with the laws of this State and with the State and federal constitutions, except when warnings or citations are issued or searches, seizures, or arrests take place.
(C) The Department of Public Safety must annually report to the General Assembly the number of licensed drivers in each county as of December thirty-first of the previous year. The number of licensed drivers must be categorized by age, gender, and race or ethnicity.
(D) The information collected in subsections (A) and (C) must be reported to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate by the first day of the legislative session for distribution to the General Assembly.
(E) Agencies, including, but not limited to, the Department of Public Safety, sheriff's departments, and municipal police departments, that employ law enforcement officers to enforce the traffic laws of this State must compile, annually publish, and make available to the public in a report the following information regarding formal complaints by members of the public against officers of the agency:
(1) the number of complaints received by type and location of incident by county;
(2) the gender, age, and race of the complainant, when known, and of any officer involved in the complaint;
(3) the disposition for each complaint, including, but not limited to, the following:
(a) Exonerated. The alleged incident did occur, but the actions of the officer were justified, legal, and proper;
(b) Sustained. The investigation disclosed sufficient evidence to prove the allegation;
(c) Not sustained. The investigation failed to disclose sufficient evidence to clearly prove or disprove the allegation;
(d) Unfounded. The alleged incident did not occur or there is insufficient information to conduct a meaningful investigation;
(4) the total number of disciplinary actions, including, but not limited to, letter of reprimand, suspension with or without pay, and dismissal stemming from each type of sustained complaint; however, this data must not include information pertaining to the identities of the officers;
(F) As used in subsection (E), 'complaint' means a signed report regarding vehicle traffic enforcement received by an agency regarding the conduct of an officer or of an incident, pattern, or practice of conduct that deprives a person of a right, privilege, or immunity secured or protected by the State or the United States Constitution or any law of the State.
(G) The annual report required pursuant to subsection (E) must respect privacy concerns and must not include the name, badge number, or other identifying information regarding officers, complainants, or other participants in a complaint, other than that information required by subsection (E)."
SECTION 3. Section 23-1-230 is repealed on July 1, 2005.
SECTION 4. This act takes effect on July 1, 2001. /
Renumber sections to conform.
Amend title to conform.
JAMES E. BRYAN, JR., for Committee.
EXPLANATION OF IMPACT:
The Department of Public Safety (DPS) estimates the proposed legislation would require the S.C. Highway Patrol and the State Transport Police to annually prepare an additional 565,265 incident reports to accompany written citations, and an additional 601,000 incident reports to accompany written warnings, verbal warnings, and calls to assist disabled motorists. The department currently issues approximately 6,050 incident reports. The figures below represent the additional annual costs required by this proposed legislation to maintain the same level of service currently provided by the SC Highway Patrol and the State Transport Police. The specifics of the estimated costs are detailed on Attachment A.
With In-car Computers Without In-car Computers
Recurring Nonrecurring Recurring Nonrecurring
Grand Total $4,320,417 $12,843,016 $6,322,879 $8,651,624
First Year Estimated Costs:
With In-Car
Computers $17,163,433
Without In-Car
Computers $14,974,503
SPECIAL NOTES:
The italicized portion of this impact indicates the items that have been revised. For this impact, the revised constitutes information that was not available in the original impact
With In-car Computers Without In-car Computers
Recurring Nonrecurring Recurring Nonrecurring
State Highway Patrol
Estimated Annual Additional Incident Reports
Written Citations 550,000 n/a 550,000 n/a
Warnings &
Disabled Motorist
Calls 530,000 n/a 530,000 n/a
Total 1,080,000 n/a 1,080,000 n/a
Estimated Additional Trooper Cost
Preparation Time
per Incident Report
(minutes) 15 n/a 20 n/a
Additional Annual
"Man Hours" 270,000 n/a 360,000 n/a
Additional Troopers
Needed 135 n/a 180 n/a
Annual Salary &
Fringe Benefits
Cost per Trooper $29,592 n/a $29,592 n/a
Total $3,994,907 n/a $5,326,542 n/a
Estimated Additional Personnel Costs
Additional FTE's
for Data Entry &
Administration 0 n/a 28 n/a
Annual Salary &
Fringe Benefits
Cost per FTE 0 n/a 20,788 n/a
Total $0 n/a $582,050 n/a
Estimated Additional Expenses
2 Computers for
each County
Office n/a $145,000 n/a n/a
Software to
accommodate
additional
reporting n/a $30,000 n/a n/a
Vehicles for new
troopers n/a $5,575,500 n/a $7,434,000
Additional Equip.
for new troopers n/a $444,960 n/a $593,280
One In-car
Computer per
Trooper
(1,051 @ $5,000) n/a $5,255,000 n/a n/a
Computer
Training n/a $280,000 n/a n/a
Total n/a $11,730,460 n/a $8,027,280
TOTAL $3,994,907 $11,730,460 $5,908,592 $8,027,280
State Transport Police
Estimated Annual Additional Incident Reports
Written
Citations 15,265 n/a 15,265 n/a
Warnings &
Disabled Motorist
Calls 71,000 n/a 71,000 n/a
Total 86,265 n/a 86,265 n/a
Estimated Additional Trooper Cost
Preparation Time
per Incident Report
(minutes) 15 n/a 20 n/a
Additional Annual
"Man Hours" 21,566 n/a 28,755 n/a
Additional Troopers
Needed 11 n/a 14 n/a
Annual Salary &
Fringe Benefits Cost
per Trooper $29,592 n/a $29,592 n/a
Total $325,511 n/a $414,287 n/a
Estimated Additional Personnel Costs
Additional FTE's for
Data Entry &
Administration n/a n/a n/a n/a
Annual Salary &
Fringe Benefits
Cost per FTE n/a n/a n/a n/a
Total n/a n/a n/a n/a
Estimated Additional Expenses
Software to
accommodate
additional
reporting n/a $30,000 n/a n/a
Vehicles for
new troopers n/a $454,300 n/a $578,200
Additional Equip.
for new troopers n/a $36,256 n/a $46,144
One In-car
Computer per
Trooper
(113 @ $5,000) n/a $565,000 n/a n/a
Computer
Training n/a $27,000 n/a n/a
Total n/a $1,112,556 n/a $624,344
TOTAL $325,511 $1,112,556 $414,287 $624,344
GRAND TOTAL $4,320,417 $12,843,016 $6,322,879 $8,651,624
First Year Estimated Cost:
With In-car
Computers $17,163,433
Without In-car
Computers $14,974,503
Approved By:
Les Boles
Office of State Budget
TO AMEND ARTICLE 3, CHAPTER 6, TITLE 23 OF THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE HIGHWAY PATROL DIVISION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY, BY ADDING SECTION 23-6-180 SO AS TO REQUIRE THE DEPARTMENT TO COLLECT, CORRELATE, AND MAINTAIN CERTAIN INFORMATION REGARDING TRAFFIC LAW ENFORCEMENT BY OFFICERS OF THE HIGHWAY PATROL AND OF THE STATE POLICE AND TO REQUIRE THE DEPARTMENT TO MAKE AN ANNUAL REPORT REGARDING COMPLAINTS MADE BY MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC AGAINST OFFICERS OF THE HIGHWAY PATROL AND OF THE STATE POLICE.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. Article 3, Chapter 6, Title 23 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 23-6-180. (A) The department shall collect, correlate, and maintain the following information regarding traffic law enforcement by officers of the Highway Patrol and of the State Police:
(1) the number of drivers stopped for traffic enforcement by officers of the Highway Patrol and of the State Police and whether or not a citation or warning was issued;
(2) identifying characteristics of the drivers stopped, including the race or ethnicity, age, and gender;
(3) the alleged traffic violation that led to the stop;
(4) whether the vehicle, personal effects, driver, or passenger or passengers were searched;
(5) the legal basis for the search, including whether consent was obtained, whether any consent was written or oral, whether there was probable cause or reasonable suspicion to suspect that a crime had been committed, whether items were in plain view, or whether the search was incident to an arrest;
(6) whether any contraband was found and the type and amount of any such contraband;
(7) whether any written citation or any oral or written warning was issued as a result of the stop;
(8) whether an arrest was made as a result of either the stop or the search;
(9) whether any property was seized under forfeiture laws, with a description of that property;
(10) whether the officers making the stop encountered any physical resistance from the driver or passenger or passengers;
(11) whether the officers making the stop engaged in the use of force against the driver, passenger, or passengers for any reason;
(12) whether any injuries resulted from the stop; and
(13) whether the circumstances surrounding the stop were the subject of any investigation, and the results of that investigation.
(B) The information required by subsection (A) need not be collected in connection with driving under the influence checks or other types of roadblocks, vehicle checks, or checkpoints that are consistent with the laws of this State and with the State and federal constitutions, except when those stops result in a warning, search, seizure, arrest, or any of the other activity described in items (4) through (14) of subsection (A).
(C) The department shall compile and annually publish and make available to the public in a report the following information regarding formal and informal complaints by members of the public against officers of the Highway Patrol and of the State Police:
(1) the number of complaints received by date, type and location of incident by county;
(2) the gender, age and race of the complainant, when known, and of any officer or trooper involved in the complaint;
(3) the disposition for each type of complaint, including, but not limited to, the following:
(a) Exonerated. The alleged incident did occur, but the actions of the officer were justified, legal, and proper;
(b) Sustained. The investigation disclosed sufficient evidence to prove the allegation;
(c) Not sustained. The investigation failed to disclose sufficient evidence to clearly prove or disprove the allegation;
(d) Unfounded. The alleged incident did not occur or there is insufficient information to conduct a meaningful investigation;
(4) the number and type of disciplinary actions, including, but not limited to, letter of reprimand, suspension with or without pay and dismissal, stemming from each type of sustained complaint;
(5) trends in types of complaints received and sustained.
(D) As used in subsection (C), `complaint' means a signed or anonymous report received by the Highway Patrol Division or State Police Division regarding the conduct of a Highway Patrol officer or a State Police officer or of an incident, pattern or practice of conduct that deprives a person of rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the State or the United States Constitution or any law of the State.
(E) The annual report required pursuant to subsection (C) shall respect privacy concerns and shall not include the name, badge number, or other identifying information regarding officers or troopers, complainants, or other participants in any particular complaint, other than that information required by subsection (C)."
SECTION 2. Section 23-6-180 is repealed on July 1, 2005.
SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
This web page was last updated on Friday, June 26, 2009 at 3:11 P.M.