Friends, the fight for racial justice in CT needs us right now.

It's Friday afternoon, it's gray, rainy and ugly outside. But the Center for Children's Advocacy needs your help.

We will be submitting written testimony in support of this Bill to expand the law so that officers in CT must collect racial profiling data on pedestrian stops, not just traffic stops. We have heard countless stories over the years of our young people being stopped for no reason while walking home and of our young people getting ticketed for jaywalking. We know this is because our young people are Black and Brown. We know this is racial profiling, happening right here in our community.
We will be submitting testimony and you should too!

The address for submitting testimony is [log in to unmask]

Here's all the info:

Raised Bill No. 7307
An Act Concerning the Alvin W. Penn Racial Profiling Prohibition Act & Pedestrian Stops

 

This legislation would extend the provisions of the Alvin W. Penn Racial Profiling Prohibition Act to cover both pedestrian stops and traffic stops.
 

The Problem

  1. In Connecticut, racial profiling data is currently collected on traffic stops made by police. While helpful, limiting data collection to traffic stops omits any view at racial profiling that takes place during pedestrian stops on the street.
  2. Collecting data only on traffic stops creates an almost entirely adult oriented view of potential racial profiling, omitting any glimpse at stops that impact youth under 16 or youth who do not drive.
  3. Collecting data only on traffic stops also gives a skewed view of potential racial profiling in many impoverished communities, as it does not factor in individuals who cannot afford a car or do not drive, yet have encounters with the police.

 

Why this is important?

  1. Substantial qualitative evidence exhibits that many youth in Connecticut most often encounter law enforcement on the street rather than while driving, and the State collects no data to measure whether racial profiling exists in these stops.
  2. National studies speak about the intense and damaging impact that repeated stops by law enforcement can have on the self-esteem and mental health of youth.
    1. A 2014 study in the American Journal of Public Health by Amanda Geller, PhD and Jeffrey Fagan, PhD shows that young men reporting police contact, particularly more intrusive contact, also displayed higher levels of anxiety and trauma associated with their experiences.
    2. The study showed that stop intrusion of youth remains tied to mental health, especially anxiety and PTSD.
  1. When considering the mental and emotional health impacts that racial profiling has the capacity to have on our youth in Connecticut, there is a significant need to take a closer look at data that actually captures these experiences.

 

How this act will create change?

  1. This legislation would extend the provisions and protections of C.G.S. § 54-1m to cover both pedestrian and traffic stops. This ensures that racial profiling data is collected on all police stops, whether traffic or pedestrian, giving a full and complete picture of any racial profiling that takes place in the state.

 

Are there other jurisdictions collecting this type of data?

  1. A number of other jurisdictions currently collect data on pedestrian stops. The Boston Police Department collects data on all pedestrian stops through their “Field Interrogation and Observation Encounter” report program. The New York City Police Department also collects data on pedestrian stops, which is recorded in their “Stop, Question and Frisk” database. Even internationally, this data is collected. Police across the entire United Kingdom record and report data on pedestrian stops pursuant to the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) of 1984.


    Your testimony should include:
    Identify yourself and the organization you represent (if any);

State your position for or against the proposed bill;
Identify the bill by name and number;
Summarize your recommendation first and then add your explanation;
Sum up your position at the end;
Thank the committee

 

Questions? CCA attorney Leon Smith

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Thank you!

 

 

 




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