WHB/7/8
Sponsored by Lindsey Lawyer, Aya Aghel, Natalie Bailey of West High School
This legislation was filed in the Safety and Homeland Security category
Presented as part of the YIG Volunteer 2024 conference
| 1 | BE IT ENACTED BY THE TENNESSEE YMCA YOUTH IN GOVERNMENT |
| 2 | |
| 3 | Section 1) Terms in this act will be defined as follows: |
| 4 | Law Enforcement (Official): Anyone trained to enforce the law, as well as uphold public safety and |
| 5 | peace. |
| 6 | Motorists: Anyone operating a vehicle on the road. |
| 7 | Traffic Infraction: Minor or major motorist offenses (running red lights, speeding, reckless |
| 8 | endangerment, etc.). |
| 9 | Traffic Stop: When law enforcement stops a motorist due to an infraction. |
| 10 | Protection of life/property: Law enforcement's job to secure the enumerated rights given to |
| 11 | citizens in the first amendment. |
| 12 | Imminent Threat: A physical danger that is likely to occur or about to happen in a given time |
| 13 | frame. |
| 14 | Miranda Rights: Informing citizens of their 5th amendment rights (right to remain silent, etc.) |
| 15 | before questioning. |
| 16 | Consent: Approval of a citizen to perform an action, such as searching their private property. |
| 17 | Seizure of Property: If a law enforcement officer finds that any citizen’s property poses a threat to |
| 18 | the general welfare of the individual or community, or can be used as evidence, they can seize the |
| 19 | property, warrant permitting. |
| 20 | Warning: If a police makes a traffic stop, they may issue a warning saying that the individual has |
| 21 | committed the offense, but are not facing any punishment. |
| 22 | Citation: Document issued by law enforcement saying that the citizen has committed a traffic |
| 23 | offense, can be written or digital. |
| 24 | Tennessee Based Incident Reporting System (TBIRS): a database in which Tennessee Law |
| 25 | Enforcement records information about crimes and incidents in the state |
| 26 | Tennessee Crime Insight: a database where the public can access information about criminal |
| 27 | reports from the state of Tennessee |
| 28 | |
| 29 | Section 2) Law enforcement officials making a traffic stop must state the reason. The official may |
| 30 | only withhold this information if they believe that withholding the reason is vital to protect the life |
| 31 | and/or protection of property from an imminent threat, including, but not limited to, instances of |
| 32 | terrorism or trafficking. |
| 33 | |
| 34 | Section 3) Law enforcement officers must document the following information through the |
| 35 | Tennessee Incident Based Reporting System (TIBRS) about the traffic stop which will be turned |
| 36 | into their agency who will be held accountable by the Attorney General: |
| 37 | Time, date, and location of the stop. |
| 38 | |
| 39 | Result of the stop (warning, citation, etc.). |
| 40 | Warning or citation issued. |
| 41 | If an arrest was made, the offense charged. |
| 42 | Actions taken by the officer during the stop, including: |
| 43 | Informing the individual of their Miranda Rights. |
| 44 | If the officer asked for consent to search the person and/or their property, and if consent from the |
| 45 | individual was provided. |
| 46 | Whether the officer conducted any searches. |
| 47 | Whether the officer seized any property, what the property was, and the reason for seizing the |
| 48 | property. |
| 49 | |
| 50 | Section 4) If more than one law enforcement officer is present during the stop, then only one |
| 51 | officer is required to collect and report to the officer’s agency. |
| 52 | |
| 53 | Section 5) State and local agencies will not report the name, social security number, or any other |
| 54 | unique personal identifying information of the motorist stopped. The report will be available to the |
| 55 | public through the Tennessee Crime Insight platform, without the unique badge number of the |
| 56 | officer involved in the stop. |
| 57 | |
| 58 | Section 6) If a law enforcement officer does not comply with the requirements stated in sections |
| 59 | two and three, the officer may be subject to investigation by the agency presiding over them or |
| 60 | the Attorney General, or risk being discharged from their position as a law enforcement officer. |
| 61 | |
| 62 | Section 7) If enacted, this law will not require funding. All preexisting expenditures are funded by |
| 63 | the city or county in which the law enforcement officers reside or if state law enforcement, they |
| 64 | will be funded by the TN Highway Patrol. |
| 65 | |
| 66 | Section 8) All Tennessee laws or parts of laws in conflict with this are hereby repealed. |
| 67 | |
| 68 | Section 9) This act shall take effect June 1, 2024, the public welfare requiring it. |
| 69 |