California’s Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory Board Releases Second Annual Report

Second annual report provides a set of recommendations to improve community trust, as well as analysis of the civilian complaint data reported in 2017 

SACRAMENTO – California’s Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory (RIPA) Board released its second annual report. This year’s report builds on the foundation established by last year’s report for identifying and addressing racial and identity profiling in California. The Board is made up of 19 members coming from diverse backgrounds, including law enforcement, religious organizations, academia, community organizations, and youth advocacy groups. In this year’s report, the Board aims to enhance the transparency of the stop data collection process by providing the public with detailed information on how this data is collected and submitted, and how enforcement agencies ensure the integrity of the data. The report also provides recommendations that can be adopted by law enforcement agencies to enhance their policies, procedures, and trainings on topics that intersect with bias and racial and identity profiling. Additionally, the report includes an analysis of civilian complaints and use of force data collected in 2017. 

"As the representative of the California State Sheriffs’ Association, we are committed as law enforcement leaders to work collectively with all members of our community regardless of race, religion, orientation and other demographics," said Kings County Sheriff Dave Robinson, Co-Chair of the RIPA Board and Designee of the President of the California State Sheriffs’ Association. "My participation on the RIPA Board has been uplifting and enlightening. As an association, we look forward to our continued strong relationships with our communities, while working towards strengthening them in those areas that are identified through this report and future reports."

“Our approach to implementing RIPA has been methodical and persistent,” said Executive Director of Alliance San Diego Andrea Guerrero. “The RIPA Advisory Board has engaged in tough conversations about problems and solutions, informed by the experiences of community members and law enforcement officers, and guided by experts and academics. We are determined to increase public safety for all Californians, and together we will, engaging in a process that generates actionable information that leads to meaningful results.”

“It is clear that the RIPA Board is committed to improving our communities,” said Attorney General Becerra. “The Board’s recommendations will help make our law enforcement agencies more transparent and promote critical steps to enhance, and in some cases, repair the public trust. I applaud the Board’s efforts to continue fostering trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve. We look forward to continuing this important work to make all California communities safer.”

The following information is included in this year’s report:

• Detailed information on how the stop data is collected and submitted and how the California Department of Justice and law enforcement agencies ensure the integrity of this data.   

• Best practice recommendations for agencies drafting policies, procedures, and trainings regarding civilian complaints and racial and identity profiling.

• Data on civilian complaints, including complaints alleging racial and identity profiling. The data provides a snapshot of 9,459 complaints reported by 453 agencies. The data is broken down by agency, type of complaint, and demographic details.

• Data reported to the California Department of Justice by law enforcement agencies on use of force incidents. The data provides a snapshot of 707 complaints broken down by agency, type of complaint, and demographic details.

A copy of the report can be found here.

BACKGROUND

California’s Racial and Identity Profiling Act of 2015 requires nearly all California law enforcement agencies to collect, maintain, and analyze demographic data on all detentions and searches.  The RIPA Board was formed in July 2016 as part of this Act, to shepherd this data collection and provide public reports. The California Legislature charged the Board with an ambitious purpose – to eliminate racial and identity profiling and improve diversity and racial and identity sensitivity in law enforcement. By unifying a diverse group of individuals from across different sectors – law enforcement, civil and human rights organizations, community groups, and academia – in a shared cause, the RIPA Board aims to improve law enforcement-community relations in California through collaboration, transparency, and accountability.

For additional information on the RIPA Board and for the datasets related to the report, please visit https://oag.ca.gov/ab953