Die in for AB 953 for fair policing in Sacramento
After the passage of Prop 47 which aims to reduce mass incarceration, California is once again pushing for more reforms and better transparency in the criminal justice system. This time demanding better data about the identity characteristics of people who are stopped by law enforcement.
California holds the horrible distinction of having more deaths at the hands of law enforcement than any other state in the nation in 2015. Today, hundreds of activists and clergy members from a coalition of groups are descending on Sacramento to demand change on racial profiling in California. After marching to the capitol from a local church activists staged a die-in on the grounds of the capitol to demand fair policing.
Activists are calling for the passage of AB 953 THE RACIAL & IDENTITY PROFILING ACT OF 2015 (Weber), which is currently languishing in the State Assembly. This bill would require law enforcement to properly track and report racial and identity information for police-community interactions.
A recent poll found that most people understand this inherent truth, and the majority-69% of voters—support more data collection about identity characteristics of police interactions.
AB 953 promotes equal justice and fairness by creating solutions to the problem of racial and identity profiling.
This bill will:
1 . Modernize California’s definition of profiling to account for identity characteristics beyond race.
2. Create a system for collecting and reporting basic information on police-community interactions.
3 . Enhance training on fair and impartial policing.
4 . Establish an advisory board that develops solutions to curb profiling.
If passed California would have hard data to prove what people of color have always known: if you are not white, you are far more likely to be involved in police interactions because of the color of your skin.
“For far too long Black, Indigenous, Latino, and immigrant communities have been unfairly profiled, harassed, and killed by law enforcement,” said Rev. Ben McBride, Director of Regional Clergy Development for PICO California. “Law enforcement has gone unchecked and the state legislature has failed at protecting those most vulnerable to police misconduct. The passage of AB 953 is just one way state legislators can begin to root out the evil ingrained in the culture of mass criminalization that exists in our state. Black lives matter. People of color matter. We must demand that our elected officials and law enforcement officers do what they are paid to do and that is protect us.”
With the passage of this bill, the entire country could have a model to work from so that we can begin to address the systematic problems with racist policing and racial profiling.