AB953 necessary for change

Gov. Jerry Brown recently signed AB953, a law that requires law enforcement officers to document every stop with an individual regardless of whether or not that person was arrested. This would essentially improve the definition of racial profiling and amend the prohibition against peace officers engaging in such practices.

AB953, also called the Racial and Identity Profiling Act of 2015, will help to expand the state’s previously vague definition of racial profiling to include “identity profiling” based on gender, national origin or other characteristics protected against discrimination.

According to the bill, an agency that employs 1,000 or more peace officers would be required to issue its first annual report by April 1, 2019. The bill would require an agency that employed less than 334 peace officers to issue its first annual report by April 1, 2023.

Their reporting would have to include the time, date and location of the stop, the reason and result of the stop, the perceived race or ethnicity, gender and approximate age of the person stopped, “provided that the identification of these characteristics shall be based on the observation and perception of the peace officer making the stop, and the information shall not be requested from the person stopped.”

Some law enforcement officers claim that AB953 is unnecessary and will create more paperwork for officers, taking away from their time on the streets. Some even claim that it seeks to solve a problem that does not exist.

Statistical data, however, would prove that to be incorrect. According to data from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, three out of four male prisoners are non-white.

It is our hope that this law will help improve the relationships and transparency that is currently not present between the police and the public.

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