Abstract:
On October 3, 2015, Governor Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 953 (AB953) into
California law. This new legislation, titled The Racial and Identity Profiling Act of
2015, requires all police and sheriff’s departments in California to, among other
things, collect and report specific data about the characteristics of people who are
stopped, searched, or arrested. This research project, completed at the request of
Chief Andy Roy of the Stanislaus State University Police in Turlock, California,
examined the current level of data collection and makes comparisons to the reporting
requirements of AB953. The intent of this project is to provide recommendations,
supported by data, which will guide policy making to move the police department
toward AB953 compliance.
