San Francisco official introduces CAREN Act to stop ‘racially biased’ 911 calls (Caution Against Racially Exploitative Non-Emergencies Act)
A San Francisco city official is taking aim at so-called “Karens” — by introducing an ordinance making it illegal to make bogus “racially biased” calls to cops.
Supervisor Shamann Walton said he introduced the CAREN Act — or the Caution Against Racially Exploitative Non-Emergencies Act — during Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting in response to several high-profile 911 calls involving people of color.
“This is the CAREN we need,” Walton tweeted Tuesday, adding that “racist 911 calls” are unacceptable.
The ordinance would amend San Francisco Police Code to make it unlawful for anyone to “fabricate false racially-biased emergency reports,” the San Francisco Chronicle reports, citing a news release from Walton.
The legislation seeks to “protect the rights of communities of color” who are victimized by “fraudulent emergency calls,” Walton said in a statement.
The name of the ordinance is a clear reference to “Karen,” a slang term popularized on social media for entitled, or bigoted white women who unnecessarily call police on people of color.
Walton noted several local examples while announcing the ordinance, including a white couple who called police on a Filipino man stenciling “Black Lives Matter” in front of his San Francisco home in June, the Mercury News reports.
Police in Alameda have also appointed an outside investigator after someone called cops on a black man in late May who was dancing and exercising outside, Walton said.
Meanwhile, in New York, Amy Cooper, a 41-year-old white woman who called cops on a black man as he watched birds in Central Park in May, was charged Monday with falsely reporting an incident in the third degree.
The ordinance comes after similar proposed state legislation in June to end discriminatory police calls by classifying them as hate crimes, the Chronicle reports.
If passed, Walton’s ordinance would allow victims to seek civil remedy in court, his chief of staff told Forbes.
Making a false report to police is already a crime, but there’s no punishment for someone who calls cops due to a perceived threat based on someone’s race, religion or appearance, according to state Assemblyman Rob Bonta (D-Oakland).
“If you are afraid of a black family barbecuing in the community park, a man dancing and doing his normal exercise routine in the bike lane, or someone who asks you to comply with dog leash laws in a park, and your immediate response is to call the police, the real problem is with your own personal prejudice,” Bonta told the Chronicle.
Under Bonta’s proposed bill, anyone victimized by a discriminatory and fraudulent call to cops could sue the caller for up to $10,000, the Chronicle reports.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/07/08/san-francisco-official-introduces-caren-act-to-stop-racist-911-calls/
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