New Missouri Bill Would Track "Driving While Gay"

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Missouri on Tuesday, in conjunction with PROMO and other community partners, announced the filing of The Fair and Impartial Policing Act, bipartisan legislation sponsored by State Sen. Jamilah Nasheed (D-St. Louis) and State Rep. Shamed Dogan (R-Ballwin).



HB1890, which prohibits law enforcement from engaging in biased policing practices, would expand the current process of data collection that police officers in Missouri are required to follow during traffic stops to the perceived race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, disability, English language proficiency or national origin of the individual stopped.



“Missourians of all communities deserve to have equal treatment under the law,” said Sen. Nasheed. “The Fair and Impartial Policing Act is a step towards balancing an inequity that must be addressed.”



“Transparency is the friend, not the enemy of good policing,” explained Rep. Dogan. “The Fair and Impartial Policing Act will provide stronger analysis and the statistics necessary to recognize and applaud those who protect and serve all communities equally.”



The current statute mandates police must record “the age, gender and race or minority group of the individual stopped.”



“This bill is a common sense measure that offers real solutions and gets us closer to justice for all Missourians,” said Jeffrey Mittman, Executive Director of the ACLU of Missouri. “We look forward to seeing this legislation continue to gain bipartisan support and ultimately be signed into law.”



"Knowing that LGBT people, particularly trans women of color, are profiled by police officers at an alarming rate around the country, we were part of a coalition that worked with Sen. Nasheed and Rep. Dogan to create a bill that protects against disparate policing for all Missourians," added Steph Perkins, Interim Executive Director of PROMO, Missouri's statewide LGBT advocacy organization. "We will continue to work with Rep. Dogan and Sen. Nasheed, who are leading the bill, to ensure the best bill possible moves through the legislature."