Constitutional Law

Report Scores Los Angeles Police For Racial Profiling

African Americans and Hispanic residents in Los Angeles are stopped, searched and arrested far more often by police officers than whites, according to a new study for the ACLU of Southern California. The article by Yale professor Ian Ayres cites Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) data.

“The results of this study raise grave concerns that African Americans and Hispanics are over-stopped, over-frisked, over-searched and over-arrested,” Ayres wrote. “These stark statistics … give a numeric lens for the lived experience of ‘driving while black,’ or ‘driving while Hispanic.’” Los Angeles police chief derided Ayres’ work, telling the Los Angeles Times that the study relied on old data. In a press release about Ayres’ report, the ACLU of Southern California noted that the police department “has made revisions to its protocol of racial profiling investigations, and has considered additional anti-bias training. The ACLU/SC applauds this recent attention, but recommends that the LAPD take additional steps, including giving the civilian Inspector General real-time oversight of racial profiling complaint investigations ….”

Full post as published by ACS Blog on October 21, 2008 (boomark / email).