The Lockhart Police Department has released its annual racial profiling report.

In 2002, the State of Texas mandated that law enforcement agencies adopt a detailed written policy on racial profiling, and collect certain data on citations, searches and arrests resulting from traffic stops by Texas Racial Profiling Law.

The Lockhart Police Department’s report was filed with the Texas Commission of Law Enforcement and was presented to Lockhart City Council at its February 18 regular meeting.

The Lockhart Police Department conducted 6,103 traffic stops in 2019. Race or ethnicity was known prior to the stop in 21 cases. Specifically, 2,764 of the motorists stopped were white, 2,716 were Hispanic/Latino, 570 were black, 38 were Asian/Pacific Islander and 15 were Alaska/Native American.

In September 2017, the State of Texas passed Senate Bill 1849, known as the Sandra Bland Act, which required police departments to document all traffic stops, including verbal warnings. Sandra Bland, a black woman, was found dead in a jail cell following a 2015 traffic stop.

“In 2019, our report showed zero incidents in which physical force resulting in bodily injury occurred during a traffic stop,” said Lockhart Chief of Police Ernest Pedraza. “The Lockhart Police Department takes racial profiling very seriously and will investigate all complaints made against an officer.”

To view the entire report, visit http://lockhart-tx.org/upload/page/0078/2019%20Racial%20Profiling%20Report.pdf.