* WARNING: THIS IS AN UNOFFICIAL, INTRODUCTORY COPY OF THE BILL.
THE OFFICIAL COPY CONSIDERED BY THE CITY COUNCIL IS THE FIRST READER COPY.
INTRODUCTORY*
CITY OF BALTIMORE
COUNCIL BILL R
(Resolution)
Introduced by: Councilmember Branch
A RESOLUTION ENTITLED
A COUNCIL RESOLUTION concerning
title
Informational Hearing - Prohibiting Racial Profiling
FOR the purpose of calling on representatives from the Police Department and Baltimore City Public Schools to appear before the Council to discuss the problem of racial profiling and to explore how to better address this problem through the expansion or creation of effective anti-profiling education programs.
body
Recitals
Racial profiling targeting individuals for suspicion of crime based on race, ethnicity, religion or national origin has undermined relations between law enforcement agencies and communities for far too long. According to ACLU reports, it remains prevalent throughout our nation and contributes to many unwarranted detentions, deaths, and other abuses every year.
Particularly egregious instances of racial profiling in recent years have drawn widespread condemnation of the practice and have led to efforts on both the state and federal level to combat it with legislation. Bills have been introduced in Congress to ban racial profiling by law enforcement personnel, and efforts to develop education programs to root out the baseless prejudices that underlie profiling have been discussed.
However, with the proposed federal legislation stalled in committee, and the State declining to make anti-profiling training mandatory, there is a need for action on the local level to address the many problems caused by racial profiling. This is especially true in places like Baltimore where tension between law enforcement and minority communities has historically been a problem.
Education programs and outreach efforts involving both law enforcement personnel and community members have proven to be effective at reducing profiling and improving connections between officers and the citizens they serve. Here in Baltimore, local activists have embarked on grass roots education efforts such as the Choices and Consequences program and the Perceptions and Assumptions seminars. These programs deserve more support, and greater efforts should be made to ensure that police officers and our young people have more exposure to programs that can effectively break down the barriers between them.
More can and should be done to end the practice of racial profiling throughout the United States. Until this brand of discrimination has been entirely eradicated, every level of government, including this Council, must do everything it can to hasten its demise by fostering greater understanding between law enforcement personnel and the communities that suffer every day because of racial profiling.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE, That the Council calls on representatives from the Police Department and Baltimore City Public Schools to appear before it to discuss the problem of racial profiling and to explore how to better address this problem through the expansion or creation of effective anti-profiling education programs.
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be sent to the Mayor, the Police Commissioner, the Director of the Mayor’s Office on Criminal Justice, the CEO of Baltimore City Public Schools, and the Mayor’s Legislative Liaison to the City Council.
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