In a move to pinpoint prejudice during traffic stops, Illinois now requires police officers to record the race of every driver pulled over on any Illinois roadway. The new law is drawing varying opinions from local law enforcement officials.

Under the law, if an officer makes a traffic stop, regardless of its results, the officer must complete a report citing the driver’s race, the reason for the stop, the type of roadway and, if applicable, any information gathered during a search of the vehicle.

The additional information accompanies what some officers think already is an abundance of paperwork.

Matt Vanover, a spokesman for the Illinois Department of Transportation, which came up with the system, said there have been gripes about the law.

“Some officers and departments are not happy, but it’s the law and they are going to follow it,” Vanover said.

Other local departments haven’t found the process, which went into effect the first of the year, to be a burden.

University Police Lt. Matthew Kiederlen said the process doesn’t take that much more work, adding that UP officers generally obtained information on race and gender for their own records, anyway.

DeKalb and UP will compile the information and send findings to IDOT by the March 2005 deadline. The sheriff’s office sends its bubble sheets to IDOT to be processed by IDOT’s computer.

Clerically, the sheriff’s office doesn’t have the resources to process the information, so it’s beneficial that IDOT is helping out with the process, Scott said.

After IDOT receives reports from every state’s police departments, data will be sent to Northwestern University.

Researchers will analyze the information and look for significant trends in traffic stops being made and who is being pulled over.

Locally, police officials said they don’t think there is a problem with profiling.

Scott said a statewide law like this would help larger cities and suburbs more than it would help smaller communities.

That is not to say DeKalb is free from any type of profiling.

“We have not seen it as a statistical issue,” Kiederlen said, “but to say it never happens, I’d be naïve.”

The four-year study is set to cost about $850,000.