West Virginia Code of State Rules
Agency 149 - Crime, Delinquency And Correction
Title 149 - LEGISLATIVE RULE GOVERNOR'S COMMITTEE ON CRIME, DELINQUENCY AND CORRECTION
Series 149-05 - Motor Vehicle Stop Data Collection Standards For The Study Of Racial Profiling
Section 149-5-3 - Data collection

Universal Citation: 149 WV Code of State Rules 149-5-3

Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 38, September 20, 2024

3.1. Operator Information Collected.

3.1.a. Beginning January 1, 2007, each time a law-enforcement officer stops the operator of a motor vehicle for a violation of any motor vehicle statute or ordinance, the officer shall record, on the West Virginia Motor Vehicle Stop Form appended to this rule, the information required to be collected pursuant to subsection 3 of this section. The officer may complete the Motor Vehicle Stop Form during or immediately after the stop, but must file the completed form with his or her law-enforcement agency before the officer goes off duty.

3.1.b. A law-enforcement officer is required to record the information required to be collected pursuant to subsection 3 of this section only when the operator has been stopped for violating a motor vehicle statute or ordinance. A law-enforcement officer is not required to record such information as a result of a nonviolation stop, even if the initial nonviolation stop results in a citation or arrest.

3.2. Passenger Information Collected.

3.2.a. Beginning January 1, 2007, each time a law-enforcement officer stops the operator of a motor vehicle for a violation of any motor vehicle statute or ordinance, and as a result, conducts a search of a passenger in the vehicle, the officer shall record, on the West Virginia Motor Vehicle Stop Form appended to this rule, the information required to be collected pursuant to subsection 3 of this section. The officer may complete the Motor Vehicle Stop Form during or immediately after the stop, but shall file the completed form with his or her law-enforcement agency before the officer goes off duty.

3.2.b. A law-enforcement officer is required to record the information required to be collected pursuant to subsection 3 of this section with regard to a passenger who has been searched only when the operator of the vehicle has been stopped for violating a motor vehicle statute or ordinance. A law-enforcement officer is not required to record such information as a result of a nonviolation stop, even if the initial nonviolation stop results in a citation or arrest.

3.3. West Virginia Motor Vehicle Stop Form (MVSF). -- The MVSF shall allow for the recording of all of the information required to be collected by subsection 4 of this section and at a minimum be developed in hard copy format; however, nothing in this rule prohibits a law-enforcement agency from completing and/or submitting the information required to be collected in an electronic format, if a protocol for electronic filing is developed by the Division of Motor Vehicles. This form shall:

3.4. MVSF Components. -- The MVSF shall allow a law- enforcement officer to collect and record the following information.

3.4.a. A unique identifier (i.e. numeric, alphanumeric, barcode, etc.) which will distinguish one from all others.

3.4.b. The law-enforcement agency's complete Originating Agency Identifier (ORI number), or an abbreviated version of that identifier singularly unique to that particular law-enforcement agency.

3.4.c. The identity of each individual law-enforcement officer within his or her law-enforcement agency. The chief executive of the law-enforcement agency shall assign a unique four (4) digit identifier to each law-enforcement officer within his or her agency for this purpose.

3.4.d. The month, day and year of the stop.

3.4.e. The approximate hour and minute of the stop.

3.4.f. The approximate duration of the stop in hours and minutes.

3.4.g. The county in which the stop took place.

3.4.h. The location of stop by patrol area.

3.4.i. The traffic violation that was the primary reason for the stop to be indicated as follows:
3.4.i.1. Code violations:
3.4.i.1.A. Red light/stop sign;

3.4.i.1.B. Speeding (<10mph over);

3.4.i.1.C. Speeding (>10mph over);

3.4.i.1.D. Lane violation/failure to signal;

3.4.i.1.E. Other moving violation; or,

3.4.i.1.F. Other nonmoving violation.

3.4.i.2. Penal code violations:
3.4.i.2.A. Nuisance/vice;

3.4.i.2.B. Suspicious circumstances;

3.4.i.2.C. Be on the lookout (BOLO)/wanted persons;

3.4.i.2.D. Property crime;

3.4.i.2.E. Violent crime; or,

3.4.i.2.F. Local ordinance.

3.4.j. Disposition. -- One of the following dispositions of the stop:
3.4.j.1. Citation

3.4.j.2. Warning

3.4.j.3. No action

3.4.k. The perceived identifying characteristics of the operator stopped, including:
3.4.k.1. The age of the operator

3.4.k.2. Whether the operator was male or female.

3.4.k.3. Whether the operator was:
3.4.k.3.A. White (W);

3.4.k.3.B. Black/African American (B/AA);

3.4.k.3.C. Asian/Pacific Islander (A/PI);

3.4.k.3.D. Native American (NA);

3.4.k.3.E. Middle Eastern (ME); or,

3.4.k.3.F. Other (Oth).

3.4.k.4. Whether the operator was:
3.4.k.4.A. Hispanic/Latino (H/L); or,

3.4.k.4.B. Non-Hispanic/Latino (NH/L).

3.4.l. Whether a search was performed as a result of the stop and, if so:
3.4.l.1. The authority for the search to be indicated as follows:
3.4.l.1.A. Consent;

3.4.l.1.B. Reasonable Suspicion/Weapon;

3.4.l.1.C. Incident to Arrest;

3.4.l.1.D. Inventory;

3.4.l.1.E. Probable Cause;

3.4.l.1.F. Plain View;

3.4.l.1.G. Probation/Parole Waiver; and,

3.4.l.1.H. Other.

3.4.l.2. Whether the search involved:
3.4.l.2.A. Officer;

3.4.l.2.B. Canine Unit;

3.4.l.2.C. Portable Breath Analyzer;

3.4.l.2.D. Drug Test Kit;

3.4.l.2.E. Warrant Check; and,

3.4.l.2.F. Other.

3.4.l.3. The persons/items searched, to be indicated as:
3.4.l.3.A. Vehicle;

3.4.l.3.B. Driver;

3.4.l.3.C. Passenger(s);

3.4.l.3.D. Personal Effects; and,

3.4.l.3.E. No Search Conducted.

3.4.l.4. The type of any contraband discovered or seized as a result of the search, to be indicated as follows:
3.4.l.4.A. None;

3.4.l.4.B. Illegal Drugs;

3.4.l.4.C. Drug Paraphernalia;

3.4.l.4.D. Alcohol;

3.4.l.4.E. Firearm(s);

3.4.l.4.F. Other Weapon(s);

3.4.l.4.G. Currency;

3.4.l.4.H. Stolen Property; and,

3.4.l.4.I. Other.

3.4.l.5. If the search was of a passenger in the motor vehicle, the age, gender and perceived race and ethnicity of the passenger searched.

3.5. Instructions detailing how an individual law-enforcement officer should complete and submit the form may be included on the MVSF itself, or provided to law-enforcement agencies or officers as an attachment.

Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. West Virginia may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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