Co-sponsor the End Racial Profiling Act of 2011 (S. 1670)

Dear Senator,

On October 6, 2011, Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD), former Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Homeland Security Subcommittee, introduced S. 1670, the End Racial Profiling Act of 2011 (ERPA). The bill's co-sponsors include: Sen. Richard Blumenthal, (D-CT), Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), Sen. Kirsten E. Gillibrand (D-NY), Sen. John F. Kerry (D-MA), Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ), Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI), Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski (D-MD) and Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI). This crucial legislation would ban profiling by federal, state and local law enforcement based on race, ethnicity, religion, or national origin. As your constituent, I urge you to co-sponsor this bill, vital to creating a comprehensive, national approach to combating racial profiling.

Racial profiling unfairly singles out people in our communities. For example, African-American and Latino/Hispanic Americans are stopped, searched and frisked for contraband while they are driving or walking much more often than whites. People who are perceived to be Latino/ Hispanic or who appear "foreign" have been detained and questioned about their immigration status by police officers. They are targeted on the street, at work and even at home with their families. And increasingly after September 11, 2001, Arabs, Muslims, Sikhs and South Asians have been targeted as "terrorism suspects," often detained by law enforcement for lengthy questioning and detention in the name of "national security," and placed under surveillance because of their religion

Racial profiling is ineffective. Multiple studies have shown that when police focus on race they pay less attention to criminal behavior, reducing the "hit rate" in detecting contraband or uncovering crimes. Racial profiling alienates members of our communities. When communities believe that law enforcement agents are biased or unjust, they lose trust and confidence in those that are meant to protect them. Community members then become less likely to come forward for police protection when they are victimized. This makes all of us less safe.

In response to mounting evidence that demonstrates the ineffectiveness and damage caused by the practice of racial profiling, Senators Cardin, Blumenthal, Durbin, Gillibrand, Kerry, Lautenberg, Levin, Menendez, Mikulski, and Stabenow have re-introduced ERPA, S. 1670. If passed, S. 1670 would:

• prohibit the use of profiling based on race, religion, ethnicity or national origin by any federal, state, local or Indian tribal law enforcement agency;
• give individuals recourse if they have been unfairly targeted by such practices;
• institute programs to eliminate racial profiling that would require training for law enforcement agents, data collection, and procedures for responding to complaints;
• permit the Attorney General (AG) to withhold grants from law enforcement agencies not complying with the Act and allow the AG to provide grants to agencies that are attempting to develop and implement best practices to eliminate racial profiling; and
• mandate that the Attorney General submit periodic reports to Congress on any discriminatory policing practices to ensure that the intent of the bill is being met over time.

Existing state laws and federal law enforcement guidance provide inconsistent and insufficient solutions to resolve the pervasive nationwide problem of racial profiling. In many cases, poor state, local and federal policies and guidance encourage or even condone biased policing. In Alabama, H.B. 56 has recently taken effect, allowing law enforcement to engage in the racial profiling of those they believe to be immigrants. This law and SB 1070 copycat laws in other states make the need for a comprehensive, national commitment to eliminating racial profiling all the more pressing. I urge you to co-sponsor the End Racial Profiling Act of 2011. I look forward to hearing from you on this important matter.

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