The deaths of unarmed black people and other people of color at the hands of police have broken hearts and sparked a national conversation about race and equality, according to activist group Asian Americans Advancing Justice in Los Angeles. On Monday, a bill addressing racial profiling moved forward through California’s legislative process.
AB 953, authored by Assembly Member Shirley Weber (D-San Diego), seeks to improve relations and the trust level between police and communities while ensuring that all Californians are treated fairly by law enforcement officers.
The bill mandates the collection of basic information about who the police stop, search, and frisk. To date, the state of California does not collect, analyze or make available such information.
“Many Californians have lived experiences with racial profiling and other forms of biased policing,” said Lee Winkelman, lead organizer for Reform California. “It’s time for us to do something about it. Racial and identity profiling has no place in California.”
Layma Murtaza, policy advocate for Asian Americans Advancing Justice’s Sacramento chapter added, “To build police-community trust and ensure all Californians are treated with dignity and respect, we first need basic information about what the police are doing.”
A similar bill by Weber, AB 619, did not pass in the Appropriations Committee.
“Our communities have been shaken by the recent deaths of unarmed black and brown men throughout the country,” said Samilah Hankins, director of legislative advocacy with Dignity and Power Now. “We are disappointed to see this use-of-force bill stalled, but will continue to move forward to affirm that we are all worthy of fair policing.”
AB 953 will go to the assembly floor for a vote sometime next week.
“Collecting data in and of itself will not fix issues with disparate policing, however, increased transparency and accountability will bring us one step closer,” said Rosa Cabrera Aqeel, legislative director with PICO California. “We hope assembly members keep that in mind as they vote on this bill next week.”
