The Racial and Identity Profiling Act of 2015:
- Prohibits racial and identity profiling by law enforcement.
- Requires law enforcement agencies to report data to the Attorney General’s Office on a) all vehicle and pedestrian stops and b) citizen complaints alleging racial and identity profiling.
- Establishes the Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory Board.
- Provides data, best practices and recommendations for community advocates, organizations, law enforcement and policymakers to collectively advance the goals of RIPA.
Background
In 2015, the California Legislature passed Assembly Bill 953, the Racial and Identity Profiling Act (RIPA), which among other things, enacted Government Code section 12525.5, that requires state and local law enforcement agencies (including California State University Police Departments), as specified, to collect data regarding stops of individuals and to report this data to the California Department of Justice (DOJ). RIPA also required the California Attorney General to issue regulations for the collection and reporting of this stop data. (Gov. Code, § 12525.5, subd. (e).) After extensive consultation with stakeholders, the Attorney General filed the final stop data regulations with the Secretary of State on November 7, 2017 and they became effective on November 7, 2017.
The text of the stop data regulations can be found here. The regulations are divided up into six categories:
- Article 1. Definitions: This section defines specific terms used throughout the regulations (11 Cal. Code. Regs. § 999.224);
- Article 2. Law Enforcement Agencies Subject to Government Code Section 12525.5: This section describes the types of law enforcement agencies that are required to report stop data (11 Cal. Code. Regs. § 999.225);
- Article 3. Data Elements to be Reported: This section describes the categories of information (known as "data elements") that officers are required to collect for each stop (11 Cal. Code. Regs. § 999.226);
- Article 4. Reporting Requirements: This section provides the general reporting requirements of all law enforcement agencies and officers and the limited reporting requirements for specific interactions or settings (11 Cal. Code. Regs. § 999.227);
- Article 5. Technical Specifications and Uniform Reporting Practices: This section provides the general requirements related to electronically submitting stop data to the Department of Justice and other requirements related to the retention and publication of data (11 Cal. Code. Regs. § 999.228); and
- Article 6. Audits and Validation: This section describes the Department of Justice’s requirements for retaining stop data and performing data validation of agencies’ stop data (11 Cal. Code. Regs. § 999.229).
The stop data regulations require officers to collect several categories of information, known as "data elements," for each stop. Those data elements are:
- The reporting officer’s agency’s originating agency identifier, which is a unique identifier assigned by the Federal Bureau of Investigation
- The date, time, and duration of the stop
- The location of the stop
*With respect to the person stopped, the officer must report their own perceptions, based upon personal observation only (and not through any other means, such as asking the person or referring to identification), regarding the following:
- The race or ethnicity of the stopped person as perceived by the officer*
- The gender of the stopped person as perceived by the officer*
- Whether the officer perceived the stopped person to be LGBT*
- The perceived age of the stopped person as perceived by the officer*
- Whether the officer perceived the stopped person as having limited or no English fluency*
- The perceived or known disability of the stopped person*
- The reason for the stop (such as, the officer stopped the person for a traffic violation or because the officer had reasonable suspicion that the person committed a crime)
- Whether the stop was made in response to a call for service
- All the actions taken by the officer during the stop (e.g., curbside detention, handcuffed or flex cuffed, firearm pointed at person, firearm discharged or used, whether a search was conducted and whether the officer asked for consent to search the person or person’s property, and whether consent was given).
- The basis for any search
- Whether any contraband of evidence is discovered
- The result of the stop (such as, the officer arrested the person or took no action)
- The officer’s identification number, which is the permanent identification number assigned by the officer’s law enforcement agency to the reporting officer and which will be used for all stop data reporting to the Department
- The officer’s years of experience at the time of the stop
- The officer’s assignment at the time of the stop (such as patrol or gang enforcement)
For a template of a stop data entry report, please see the AB 953: Template Based on the Final Stop Data Regulations, pdf
At CSU Channel Islands, when collecting stop data, officers will select from a required list of responses for each of the data fields within our electronic records management system, which will help ensure that the data collected is uniform for all agencies.
In addition to selecting among the list of responses, officers will also be required to complete an explanatory field of no more than 250 characters, in which the officer explains in their own words the reason the person was stopped.
The stop data regulations require that the explanation provided by the officer must include additional detail beyond the general check boxes selected, and that the officer should not include any personally identifying information (PII) of the person stopped or of themselves. If a search is conducted, the basis for the search must also be described in an explanatory field.
In accordance with AB 953 and the established stop data regulations, the CSU Channel Islands Police Department began officially collecting RIPA stop data in January of 2022.
Data Analysis & Publication
After each reporting period closes on April 1st, the data will then be analyzed by the DOJ Research Center and subsequently released on the DOJ’s Open Justice portal. Data is currently available at: https://openjustice.doj.ca.gov/
The Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory Board
In addition to the data collection requirements described above, AB 953 also established the Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory (RIPA) Board.
The RIPA Board is a 19-member Board made up of community advocates, spiritual leaders, academics, attorneys, and law enforcement. The Board’s mission is to eliminate racial and identity profiling and to improve diversity and racial and identity sensitivity in law enforcement.
The Board’s job is to:
- Analyze the stop data and the civilian complaint data on an annual basis.
- Work with law enforcement to review racial and identity profiling policies and practices.
- Review law enforcement training.
- Issue an annual report that details the data findings and provides policy recommendations and best practices to law enforcement for eliminating profiling in
More information about the composition and work of the RIPA Board, including information on RIPA Board meetings, can be found by visiting the Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory Board website. The Board’s annual reports can be found on the RIPA Board Reports website.
Conclusion:
Racial or identity profiling is a practice that presents a great danger to the fundamental principles of our Constitution and a democratic society. It is abhorrent and cannot be tolerated.
Racial or identity profiling alienates people from law enforcement, hinders community policing efforts, and causes law enforcement to lose credibility and trust among the people whom law enforcement is sworn to protect and serve. The working men and women in California law enforcement risk their lives every day. The people of California greatly appreciate the hard work and dedication of peace officers in protecting public safety. The good name of these officers should not be tarnished by the actions of those few who commit discriminatory practices.