An incoming senator has set his sights on repealing a law that would require police officers to collect racial data at traffic stops to analyze racial profiling.

A new law effective Jan. 1 will require police officers to collect certain information at traffic stops, including the race or ethnicity of the driver of the vehicle, according to the Office of the Justice Assistant.

The law is intended to determine whether there is a disproportionate number of traffic stops between minorities and non-minorities.

Sen.-elect Van Wanggaard, R-Racine, recently appointed chair of the state Senate Committee on Labor, Public Safety and Urban Affairs by new Republican majority leader Sen. Scott Fitzgerald, said the law would encourage the type of racial profiling it intends to resolve.

“All that’s going to do is fuel more disconnection with the community and the law enforcement,” said Wanggaard, who has served 30 years as a police officer.

In most cases, the information recorded by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation from an individual’s driver’s license is used, but if the DOT does not have the information, the officer is required to determine the person’s ethnicity.

The Madison Police Department has gathered traffic stop data including race and ethnicity since 2003, according to a report released by MPD Chief Noble Wray.

However, according to Wanggaard, it is a counter-productive policy for officers who work in predominantly non-white communities.

“I’m a white officer working in a minority district. I’m going to be pulling over minorities in that area,” Wanggaard said.

The officer is also required to document if there are any non-white passengers in the car, but not their specific ethnicity, according to the Office of the Justice Assistant.

Stacy Harbaugh, a spokesperson for the Madison chapter of the ACLU, said the law is intended to analyze officers’ perceptions in order to determine if racial profiling is taking place.

“I think we need to know who’s getting pulled over and we need to know about the perceptions of the officers that are pulling them over,” Harbaugh said.

Harbaugh said while some police officers believe it takes time away from policing, the policy will actually give officers a chance to analyze their actions instead of only being on the receiving end of accusations.

“We hope this can continue statewide. It’s in the officers best interests,” Harbaugh said.