Proposal for racial data on traffic stops would keep records secret

Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle's proposed budget would require 11 counties to compile records on traffic stops in order to determine if racial profiling is occurring, the Journal Sentinel reported. However, the records would be exempt from public record laws. This information is already included in police reports and considered public record, but the proposal would require the data to be organized into a record, which would not be public, for the Department of Justice.

Gov. Jim Doyle wants law enforcement in Wisconsin's 11 largest counties to compile data from traffic stops to determine whether racial profiling is occurring.

The proposal, contained in Doyle's budget bill, also would keep those records secret.

That has open government advocates bewildered. Why keep from the public data that could point to a problem or show that there isn't a problem, they wonder.

More here.