Weslaco Police Department

WESLACO POLICE DEPARTMENT
RACIAL PROFILING REPORT 2014

The Weslaco Police Department, in accordance with the Texas Racial Profiling Law, Article 2.132 Code of Criminal Procedure, has been collecting police contact data to comply with the law. Throughout the past year, the police department has striven to ensure that the numbers reported, via citations, field contact cards and arrests was as accurate as possible. The information reported herein only applies to what is referred to as a Tier 1 information only (stops that resulted in citation or arrest).

A. REQUIREMENTS

The following requirements must be met by all law enforcement agencies in the State of Texas:

1. Clearly define act or actions that constitute racial profiling.
2. Statement prohibiting any peace officer employed by the Weslaco Police Department from engaging in racial profiling.
3. Implement a process by which an individual may file a complaint regarding racial profiling violations and provide public education related to the complaint process.
4. Implement disciplinary guidelines for officers found in violation of the Texas Racial Profiling Law.
5. Collect Tier 1 data that includes information on:
a. Race and ethnicity of individual detained
b. Whether a search was conducted
c. If there was a search, whether it was a consent search or a probable cause search
d. Whether a custody arrest took place
6. Produce an annual report on police contacts (Tier 1) and present this to the local governing body March 1st, 2014.
7. Adopt a policy, if video/audio equipment is installed, on standards for the Reviewing video and audio documentation.

B. STANDARDS

Inside this report, the reader will find that the Weslaco Police Department has met all the requirements of Article 2.132 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedures.

The Department has General Order 58-2001, which addresses the Racial Profiling issue.

The Department has a current Collective Bargaining Contract, October 1st, 2011 through September 30, 2012, Article 29, which governs the procedures for investigating a complaint filed against an officer.

The Department has General Order 55-99, which outlines the use of the mobile video equipment mounted in the patrol vehicles.

The collection process used for this report was comprised of traffic citations, field contact cards, and traffic related arrest reports. The race, ethnicity of an individual that was stopped and whether a search was conducted was gathered. This information as gathered over the time period of January 1st, 2013 till December 31st, 2013. This information is called TIER 1.

C. EDUCATION

1. Departmental Personnel
A. All members of the Weslaco Police Department have met the requirements set out by the Texas Commission of Law Enforcement. That requirement stipulated that all officers had to attend a Racial Profiling Class prior to September 1st, 2003.
B. As part of the mandated training required by T.C.O.L.E., officers of the Weslaco Police Department are required to attend Cultural Diversity Classes every two-year training cycle. This course of study includes sections on Racial Profiling.

2. Public Awareness
A. The Weslaco Police Department, through the Community Policing Division, conducts public awareness/education programs that includes the complaint process utilized by the department.

D.COMPLAINT HISTORY

Since the adaptation of Article 2.131 of the CCP (Racial Profiling Prohibited), the Weslaco Police Department had not received any verifiable complaints regarding racial profiling.

DEMOGRAPHICS

The City of Weslaco is located on the Eastern edge of Hidalgo County, centered between McAllen to the West, Harlingen to the East and is seven miles North of the Mexican border city of Nuevo Progreso.

The city comprises approximately 14.72 square miles of landmass.

A. Population

The information utilized in this section was obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau, Census of 2010. This Census indicated a total population of 35,670.

The current Census breakdown for the City of Weslaco is as follows:

Number Percentage

Hispanic/Latino 30,312 84.9

White 4,633 13

Black 195 0.5

Asian 419 1.1

American Indian 211 0.6

Total: 35,670 (figure difference of 99) 100.1

B. Weslaco Police Department

The Weslaco Police Department currently has a total of 54 fully sworn police officers along with eight vacancies. The breakdown of the racial make-up of the sworn officers of the Weslaco Police Department is as follows:

Hispanic Males 39

Hispanic Females 5

Caucasian Males 5

Caucasian Females 0

Black 0

Asian 0

American Indian 0

Total : 54