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Advisory committee approves revised motor-vehicle stop data dictionary for Texas Commission on Law Enforcement
Summary
An advisory committee approved a revised motor-vehicle stop data dictionary and executive summary to present to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement; staff will include the materials in the commissioners' packet ahead of a June 25 meeting and begin implementation planning before January data collection.
An advisory committee preparing materials for the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement voted to approve a revised motor-vehicle stop data dictionary and accompanying executive summary and agreed to present the package to the commission at a meeting tentatively scheduled for June 25 in Austin.
The committee’s vote followed a page-by-page review of edits designed to standardize field wording, clarify how agencies record reasons for stops and searches, and change how injuries and complaint outcomes are reported. Melissa, the committee presenter, said she had "captured all of the feedback" from prior meetings and believed the draft was ready for a vote.
The document will be presented to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCO) at a June meeting at the Pickle Center, staff said, and will be included in the commissioners’ packet, which is typically distributed about two weeks before the meeting. A staff member told the committee that staff will also "start trying to put this into action out in the field" and urged giving agencies lead time to make system or training changes before data collection begins in January.
During discussion a committee member proposed renaming the deliverable from "TCO racial profiling data dictionary" to "TLE motor vehicle stop data dictionary" to keep language consistent; the committee agreed and the change was accepted for the final version. Melissa outlined several substantive edits the committee approved: standardizing start/end wording and field ordering, allowing multiple contraband selections for agencies with that capability, centering a single "primary reason" field when multiple reasons could apply, and distinguishing criminal-law violations from traffic-law violations in the coding scheme.
On reporting of injuries and complaints, the committee narrowed the form’s language to ask about "bodily injury as a result of physical force on drivers" rather than officer-only injury reporting, and it replaced a discipline-oriented phrasing with disposition categories such as sustained, unsustained or still under review so the annual report can capture outcomes even when adjudication is incomplete.
A committee member moved to approve the document "as it is," a second was given, and members recorded an affirmative voice vote approving the draft for presentation. The motion and seconds were not named in the record; the committee did not enumerate individual votes.
Committee members and staff discussed presentation materials for commissioners, including providing either a redline or a comparison packet that includes the original questionnaire and the revised draft. Staff said they will work with the committee to highlight the system changes that require work in the agency’s data system. Staff advised that packets are normally distributed two weeks before the commission meeting.
Staff and members said they do not anticipate further committee meetings unless commissioners request additional work after the June presentation. The committee adjourned after the vote.
