Lt. Steve Doris with Baytown PD comments on the Channel 2 News article……
Lt. Dorris said “The information requested by the officer is part of a practice that has been in place since the 60’s and was for the purpose of identification only. Social Security number and weight have long been listed as requested information on our citations, however now that technology has improved with camera systems and fingerprint identification systems, it is not required information and officers do not pursue it should the person decline to give it. We do realize that people may be reluctant to tell an officer that they are uncomfortable with giving that information, and it is not information that we use as part of the ticketing process. The City of Baytown and the Baytown Police Department’s goal is to provide the best service that we can to our citizen’s and to work closely with the community to improve that service where we can. With that in mind, we are working to remove those questions from the ticketing process. This will not be an overnight process, but for the most part officers will not be asking these questions in the future. Furthermore, we have not and will not arrest someone for failing to provide these pieces of information.
Lieutenant Steve Dorris
Criminal Investigations Division
City of Baytown Police Department
3200 N. Main
Baytown, Texas 77521
Office: 281-420-6617
Cell: 713-412-1521
>http://www.click2houston.com/news/woman-asked-to-provide-weight-social-security-number-during-traffic-stop-in-baytown