Aliya Schneider is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media that a newly approved city resolution now requires the Hudson Police Department to report to the Common Council gender and racial data related to all traffic and pedestrian stops. Hudson Police Chief L. Edward Moore must now provide elected officials with monthly traffic-stop data, including the gender and racial identity of those stopped by police, as well as where they were stopped. Nationwide racial profiling and the council requesting a 25 mph speed limit in Hudson were among the reasons for the resolution. Fifth Ward Alderperson Dominic Merante was the lone vote against the measure, arguing the matter should be revisited at the February Council meeting. Concerns were raised by Merante and 2nd Ward Alderperson Dewan Sarowar that inquiring about gender could be perceived as insensitive. Police Chief L. Edward Moore was not included in the Common Council’s decision to create a traffic stop data requirement. “Transparency is a pane of glass,” Moore said Jan. 22. “It works both ways. We are always forthcoming with our direction and goals. If the city council were so, we would’ve had some sort of discussion.” Moore said the information being requested is not currently collected by the department. However, he did provide race and gender information for 490 of the approximately 1,000 tickets issued in 2020. Within that group, 73.5 percent were Caucasian, 20.2 percent black, 0.4 percent Asian or South Pacific and 5.9 percent were categorized as other, Moore said. The demographics are similar each year, he said, adding the department does not receive many race- and gender-based complaints. Moore said he is unsure how the department will collect racial and gender data, and he is not sure how people would react to being asked for their gender and race. “Some people will be fine with it, some people will say, ‘What do you need that for?’” Moore said. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.