POLICE DEPARTMENT
RACIAL PROFILING POLICY
General Order Number 330
Effective Date: January 1, 2002
Purpose
The purpose of this policy is to unequivocally state that racial and ethnic profiling is unacceptable, to provide guidelines for officers to prevent such occurrences, and to protect officers when they act within the dictates of the law and policy from unwarranted accusations.
Policy
Officers employed by the Mansfield Police Department are prohibited from engaging in Racial Profiling. It is the policy of the Mansfield Police Department to patrol in a proactive manner, to aggressively investigate suspicious persons and circumstances, and to actively enforce the motor vehicle laws, while insisting that citizens will only be stopped or detained when there exists reasonable suspicion to believe they have committed, are committing, or are about to commit an infraction of the law.
The prohibition against racial profiling does not preclude the use of race, ethnicity, or national origin as factors in a detention decision by a peace officer. Race, ethnicity, or national origin may be legitimate factors in such decision when used as part of a description of a suspect or witness for whom a peace officer is searching.
Complaints Of Racial Or Ethnic Profiling
Any person may file a complaint with the Mansfield Police Department if they feel they have been stopped or searched based on racial, ethnic, or gender-based profiling, and no person shall be discouraged, intimidated, or coerced from filing such a complaint or discriminated against because they have filed such a complaint.
Complaints of racial or ethnic profiling will be made to the on-duty supervisor, Patrol Commander, Criminal Investigation Commander, or the Deputy Chief of Police.
The Chief of Police will be notified immediately of any complaints alleging racial or ethnic profiling.
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