Racial Profiling Hearing Set for May 5

I hope a lot of people will turn out for the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing of the bill to curb racial profiling.  We are, in some ways, closer than ever to passage, and is some ways so far.  Prior to the House hearing there were hours and hours of negotiations between community members and the police about compromise language.  We went into the hearing with new wording we could all live with and all testified to that effect.  Several police speakers said that all the bill really is is a codifying of best practices. 

Then the bottom feel out.  The police chiefs association voted to oppose the bill, unanimously with two abstentions.  Not even close.  Not even those who had said publicly that they could live with it voting for it.

So not it is time for the legislature to act.  And they need to hear from you, because you can be sure that they will hear from their local police chiefs.  And going against them takes courage.  We need to ask the legislators to be courageous.

That is where you come in. 

If you have experienced racial profiling, we need you to say so.  Tell your story.  The legislators still don't quite believe how pervasive and how humiliating it is, in spite of the statistics.  They don't quite get how that anger and humiliation that result undermine the stated intent of the police to develop trust that is essential for good policing.  So please, tell them your experience.  If you can't be there, send it to sene@afsc.org and we will pass it on.

And if you are angered that people in our community are stopped for simply walking down the street or driving down the street, then your voice is needed as well.  We need people to say this is not the kind of community I want and I want the police to listen to us.

And we need to call on the legislators to insist that the police listen to the community.  We give the police an awful lot of latitude to decide how to go about the task of addressing crime and keeping our community safe.  There are trade offs we make for that safety.  And the police must listen when the community tells them that they have gone too far.  If they don't listen voluntarily, then the legislature must step in and pass a bill that at least some police professionals admit is only a statement of best practices.

Please join in this effort.  Thanks!