California's racial profiling law is 'terrible' legislation, police officials say

[bemildred]

Source: LA Times

California is about to tackle head on the charged issue of racial bias in law enforcement.

Gov. Jerry Brown this weekend signed legislation mandating that California law enforcement agencies collect — and make public — data on the racial makeup of all those encountered by police.

For civil rights activists, Brown's action was a big step toward protecting minorities from racial profiling.

For many in law enforcement, the measure creates a massive new bureaucratic headache that will do little to illuminate the question of whether police treat minority groups fairly.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/local/crime/la-me-brown-reax-20151005-story.html#navtype=outfit

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Transparency.

[marmar]

1. "There is no racial profiling. There just isn't....There is criminal profiling that exists."

How can he say that sh*t with a straight face?

[christx30]

2. Because they honestly don't see it as racial profiling.

"Those people" just need to stop committing crimes. You know what I'm talking about. Wink wink nudge nudge.

But, yes, if the police think the law is a bad idea, then I'm all for it. Let's shine some much needed light on their practices.

[marble falls]

4. They dishonestly call it something else.

[bemildred]

3. People can justify anything, and they will too. nt

[SwankyXomb]

10. Because he's a kop.

Telling lies is easier for them than breathing.

[Iggo]

18. Because they're cops. That's how they do.

[ancianita]

5. Yeah, too bad police will have to "check the box." But the recordkeeping requirement still can't

be used in courts to prove INTENT, no matter what the governor says about the 'look' of the collective records.

The record keeping requirement is used to make cops think twice about their 'encounters' with citizens, because of the press of paperwork, such that those encounters will go down.

Smart governor.

[Nitram]

6. Record-keeping can expose a pattern of racial bias in stops and arrests that is so blatant...

...no on can deny the existence of an institutional bias.

[ancianita]

7. That has been the case in courts for a long time. The SCOTUS overturned that. INTENT must

be proved, and behavior records do not prove intent, according to all the courts. The court house door is closed on data as proof of racial bias.

[Nitram]

11. Whether or not the courts are ready to consider it...

...it can sway public opinion to the point where the courts have to go along. Just as happened with gay marriage.

[ancianita]

12. They NOT "getting ready." They have RULED AGAINST all legal arguments on racial bias.

The only proof they will rule on is proof of INTENT to use race as the SOLE factor in all police stops.

The SCOTUS ruling is a hard pill for us to swallow, but that is the state of legally "proving" racial bias.

[Cal Carpenter]

16. Ancianita is right, unfortunately

I highly recommend the book 'The New Jim Crow' by Michelle Alexander to see how the courts allow and perpetuate the racial discrimination in the justice system.

I thought I knew how bad it was, but that book made it even clearer.

[ancianita]

8. The governor's intent is to discourage that police behavior by making them suffer paperwork.

That's pretty much all he can legally do.

[silverweb]

9. "Bureaucratic headache"?

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]Departments have these thingies called "computers" now. All they need to have added is a way to keep track of race in every police encounter and generate a report periodically.
Here's an idea! Maybe they can just copy the Quicken program and designate a "new category" called "race."

This so-called "bureaucratic headache" is a ridiculously transparent argument from those who just don't want to report so they don't have to change.

[ancianita]

13. Police know that they will never incriminate themselves by checking ONLY the "race" box.

Their out will always be stopping people for "other" factors, which they will also check off in their computer reports.

[silverweb]

14. That's a given, of course.

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]However, at least race will finally be tracked and reported. If they lie about it, that's a provable lie - and there will hopefully be severe consequences.

[ancianita]

15. They can tell the complete truth, for all the legal good it will do for AA or any ethnic minority.

We already KNOW the prevalence of prejudice now enshrined as racism in The New Jim Crow.

The governor is punishing those who use it. The result will likely also be that all the other police will pressure each other collectively to slow down discriminatory stops. Doing the right thing for the wrong reasons is still slowing down racism's law enforcement sting.

[silverweb]

19. That would be a good thing.

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]Slowing down discriminatory stops through peer pressure, I mean. It's not enough, certainly, but it's a step in the right direction.

[Iggo]

17. Aw, poor babies.

[Dont call me Shirley]

20. To racist CA cops who don't like this new law...

[Taitertots]

21. How much time does this take? 30-45 seconds per traffic stop.

And that's being generous.

The only reasonable explaination for their opposition is that the LAPD targets minorities.