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New Racial Profiling Law Seen as First Step Toward Police Accountability in State

Published

10 years ago

October 12, 2015

A state bill that was signed into law this past weekend will usher in new police accountability reforms requiring California law enforcement to collect and report identity data on police stops in order to address racial profiling.

In the face of continuous pressure from community groups and civil rights activists who occupied the State Capitol rallying in support of the bill, Governor Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 953 (The Racial and Identity Profiling Act of 2015) into law on Oct. 3.

The bill, authored by Assemblymember Shirley Weber with co-authors Assemblymember Rob Bonta and Senator Holly Mitchell, is designed to combat racial profiling, police misconduct, and help restore trust between police and the community.

Reports show that Black and Latino drivers are pulled over in traffic stops at higher rates than whites, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Black drivers are 31 percent more likely to be pulled over by police than whites, and 23 percent more likely than Hispanics, the Washington Post reported.

In Oakland, Latinos were stopped in 19 percent of traffic stops by Oakland police and represent 25 percent of the city population. African Americans were stopped in 55 percent of vehicle stops while they make up only 28 percent of the city population.

This new law, although just a first step, hopes to change that trajectory, according to activists.

Under the law’s requirements, police and other law enforcement agencies track data from traffic and pedestrian stops, including the race, age and gender of the people stopped, the reason for the stop and result, as well as actions taken by the officer.

Rosa Aqeel, Legislative Director of PICO California.

Each agency will be accountable to the state Attorney General and will submit an annual report to be reviewed by a 19-member advisory board.

“This precedent setting legislation is historic – it is both a moral and legal victory for our state and our nation,” said Rev. Ben McBride, Director of Regional Clergy Development with PICO California, who was part of the coalition of activists that rallied at the State Capitol for Governor Brown to sign the bill.

“The people have spoken and no longer will we be held hostage by rogue officers and departments who see us as criminals unworthy of human dignity simply by virtue of the color of our skin.”

The Racial and Identity Profiling Act will be one of the first laws to revise the definition of “racial and identity profiling,” based on recommendations of The President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing and the U.S. Department of Justice. It will prohibit profiling based on race, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, or mental or physical disability.

Assemblymember Bonta, co-author of AB 953, applauded the Governor’s action: “African Americans and other people of color in California face completely different experiences with the criminal justice system than their white counterparts. The Racial and Identity Profiling Act will help reestablish confidence and trust in our justice system by requiring the comprehensive collection of reliable, quantifiable data and developing effective, evidence-based solutions to prevent racial profiling.”

“It’s a very important first step in creating some transparency and accountability with the way in which law enforcement policies our communities,” said Rosa Aqeel, legislative director with PICO California, one of the co-sponsors of the bill.

“For so many years, folks who live in communities of color have been making complaints on a lot of actions that have led to harassment. Police have dismissed those for years as just being anecdotal,” Aqeel said. “Now, we’re able to see how pervasive racial profiling is across the state.”

Collecting and reporting racial and identity data is just one part of the new law. A Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory (RIPA) Board will analyze the data and then create solutions to address police violence and unjust policing practices.

Occupying seats on the board will be 19 members representing law enforcement, community organizations, faith leaders, human and civil rights activists, and a university professor specializing in racial and identity equity. One young person, aged 16 to 24, will have a seat on the board as well.

Together, the board will develop guidelines and training for all officers in California, the bill reads, to raise awareness and respect among law enforcement of racial and cultural diversity.

“AB 953 puts California on a path moving from an anecdotal system to one that is data-driven,” said Chauncee Smith, Racial Justice Advocate with the ACLU of California Center for Advocacy & Policy, another co-sponsor of the bill along with the Youth Justice Coalition, Dignity and Power Now, and others.

The board will work in partnership with law enforcement agencies and submit policy recommendations to curb racial profiling.

“The advisory board is a means to the ultimate end,” said Smith. “It is invaluable to ensure law enforcement buy-in on every finding and recommendation from the board.”

It is also important for community members to be actively involved in this process and let their local police departments know that they want to see effective change, Aqeel said.

“Ultimately, it will be up to different communities to take the recommendations from RIPA and see which ones make the most sense for local communities,” she said.

The bill goes hand in hand with other statewide strategies to increase police accountability – civilian oversight of police conduct, the ACLU Mobile Justice app which allows users to record police-civilian interaction from their cell phones, and the #CaravanForJustice campaign launched last week in Oakland by the Ella Baker Center.

“I think that (AB 953) is a really important first step in the long journey that we have to ensure police accountability,” said Taina Vargas-Edmond, State Advocate with the Ella Baker Center. “We can’t push for policy reforms that will keep our people safer unless we have the data to support and back up what people of color know to be the real experience of our lives.”

“This lets the people know that all of the power is in the hands of the people, in organizing, and in making our voices heard,” Vargas-Edmond said.

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Rest in Peace: A.M.E. Pastor and L.A Civil Rights Icon Cecil “Chip” Murray Passes

The Rev. Dr. Cecil L. “Chip” Murray, former pastor of First African Methodist Episcopal Church (FAME) in Los Angeles, died of natural causes April 6 at his Windsor Hills Home. He was 94. “Today, we lost a giant. Reverend Dr. Cecil Murray dedicated his life to service, community, and putting God first in all things. I had the absolute honor of working with him, worshiping with him, and seeking his counsel,” said Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass of the dynamic religious leader whose ministry inspired and attracted millionaires as well as former gang bangers and people dealing with substance use disorder (SUD).

Published

3 days ago

February 3, 2026

Oakland Post

The Rev. Dr. Cecil L. “Chip” Murray, former pastor of First African Methodist Episcopal Church (FAME) in Los Angeles, died of natural causes April 6 at his Windsor Hills Home. He was 94.

“Today, we lost a giant. Reverend Dr. Cecil Murray dedicated his life to service, community, and putting God first in all things. I had the absolute honor of working with him, worshiping with him, and seeking his counsel,” said Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass of the dynamic religious leader whose ministry inspired and attracted millionaires as well as former gang bangers and people dealing with substance use disorder (SUD).

Murray oversaw the growth of FAME’s congregation from 250 members to 18,000.

“My heart is with the First AME congregation and community today as we reflect on a legacy that changed this city forever,” Bass continued.

Murray served as Senior Minister at FAME, the oldest Black congregation in the city, for 27 years. During that time, various dignitaries visited and he built strong relationships with political and civic leaders in the city and across the state, as well as a number of Hollywood figures. Several national political leaders also visited with Murray and his congregation at FAME, including Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

Murray, a Florida native and U.S. Air Force vet, attended Florida A&M University, where he majored in history, worked on the school newspaper and pledged Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. He later attended Claremont School of Theology in Los Angeles County, where he earned his doctorate in Divinity.

Murray is survived by his son Drew. His wife Bernadine, who was a committed member of the A.M.E. church and the daughter of his childhood pastor, died in 2013.

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Court Throws Out Law That Allowed Californians to Build Duplexes, Triplexes and RDUs on Their Properties

Charter cities in California won a lawsuit last week against the state that declared Senate Bill (SB) 9, a pro-housing bill, unconstitutional. Passed in 2021, SB 9 is also known as the California Housing Opportunity and More Efficiency Act (HOME). That law permits up to four residential units — counting individual units of duplexes, triplexes and residential dwelling units (RDUs) – to be built on properties in neighborhoods that were previously zoned for only single-family homes.

Published

3 days ago

February 3, 2026

Oakland Post

Charter cities in California won a lawsuit last week against the state that declared Senate Bill (SB) 9, a pro-housing bill, unconstitutional.

Passed in 2021, SB 9 is also known as the California Housing Opportunity and More Efficiency Act (HOME). That law permits up to four residential units — counting individual units of duplexes, triplexes and residential dwelling units (RDUs) – to be built on properties in neighborhoods that were previously zoned for only single-family homes.

A Los Angeles Superior Court Judge ruled in favor of the cities, pointing out that SB 9 discredited charter cities that were granted jurisdiction to create new governance systems and enact policy reforms. The court ruling affects 121 charter cities that have local constitutions.

Attorney Pam Lee represented five Southern California cities in the lawsuit against the state and Attorney General Rob Bonta.

“This is a monumental victory for all charter cities in California,” Lee said.

However, general law cities are excluded from the court ruling as state housing laws still apply in residential areas.

Attorney General Bonta and his team are working to review the decision and consider all options that will protect SB 9 as a state law. Bonta said the law has helped provide affordable housing for residents in California.

“Our statewide housing shortage and affordability crisis requires collaboration, innovation, and a good faith effort by local governments to increase the housing supply,” Bonta said.

“SB9 is an important tool in this effort, and we’re going to make sure homeowners have the opportunity to utilize it,” he said.

Charter cities remain adamant that the state should refrain from making land-use decisions on their behalf. In the lawsuit, city representatives argued that SB 9 eliminates local authority to create single-family zoning districts and approve housing developments.

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Funds for Down Payments and Credit Repair Given to Black First Time Homebuyers

The California Civil Rights Department (CRD) won a $10,000 fair housing settlement last November against a property management company, CIM Group LP, a global real estate company headquartered in Los Angeles, and property owner, RACR Sora, LLC, for implementing a blanket ban on renting to tenants with criminal histories at Sora Apartments in Inglewood. Three months earlier, the department, which enforces California’s civil rights laws, won another $20,000 civil rights settlement against a Lemon Grove property manager, who had targeted a Black tenant with a series of racist actions and threats of violence.

Published

3 days ago

February 3, 2026

Oakland Post

By McKenzie Jackson, California Black Media

Three months earlier, the department, which enforces California’s civil rights laws, won another $20,000 civil rights settlement against a Lemon Grove property manager, who had targeted a Black tenant with a series of racist actions and threats of violence.

CRD Director Kevin Kish said the department investigates cases of apparent racial bias in housing and sometimes more subtle acts of prejudice like nuisance-free or crime-free housing policies or holding tenants to different standards based on their race.

Kish said, “People will get evicted if they call the police. This can negatively impact victims of domestic violence. We also see these no-crime ordinances, or no-crime policies, used in racially discriminatory ways. If there is some kind of incident, and the police are called and it involves a Black family, then they get evicted, but other folks aren’t necessarily evicted.”

On April 11,1968, a week after Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated, President Lydon B. Johnson signed the Fair Housing Act, which prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race, color, religion, and nationality.

Kish noted that William Byron Rumford, the first Black California State Assemblymember, who represented Berkley and Oakland, spearheaded the passing of the Rumford Act in 1963. That law sought to end discriminatory housing practices in the Golden State, five years before the Fair Housing Act became law.
Real estate agent and housing advocate Ashley Garner is the director of the CLTRE Keeper Home Ownership program. That organization gave 25 Black, indigenous, and people of color $17,500 each in down payment and credit repair support to purchase a home in Oak Park, a traditionally Black neighborhood in Sacramento, last fall. CLTRE obtained a $500,000 grant from the city of Sacramento to award the funds to the residents after they completed an eight-week homeownership program.

In 2021, the California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA) noted that around four in 10 Black California families owned homes, which trails that of White, Asian-American and Latinos.
According to Forbes, the median price for a home in California is over $500,000, which is double the cost of a home in the rest of the country.

Black lawmakers recently introduced their Reparations Priority Bill Package that includes support for Black first-time homebuyers, homeowners’ mortgage assistance and property tax relief for neighborhoods restricted by historic redlining.

California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA) spokesperson Eric Johnson said CalHFA helps prospective low-income and moderate-income Californians purchase homes by offering down payment and closing cost aid. “There are lots of people who have steady jobs, good credit scores, constant income, but they haven’t been able to save up the money that traditional banks need or want to see for a down payment,” Johnson stated. “We help those folks out. We give a loan for the down payment to get them over that hurdle.”
CRD and the Department of Real Estate hosted “Fair Housing Protections for People with Criminal Histories” Zoom call on April 10.

On April 25, CRD will also hold Zoom seminars focused on advocating for fair housing for people with disabilities.