The NAACP reiterated its call for Congress to take strong, decisive action to end racial profiling by law enforcement.
“Most law enforcement agents are hard working, conscientious men and women who use proven, data-driven, non-discriminatory methods of policing to protect and serve the communities in which they work,” said Hilary O. Shelton, the Director of the NAACP Washington Bureau and the Senior Vice President for Advocacy and Policy. “The problem is that when even one of their law enforcement colleagues uses racial profiling, the trust of an entire community can be lost and the integrity of their work challenged.”
“What we need is a data-based approach to define the problem and determine the scope and magnitude and then we must have education, training and accountability at all levels to eliminate racial profiling once and for all.”
Mr. Shelton went on to say that the End Racial Profiling Act, S. 1670 / H.R. 3618, effectively addresses racial profiling by “defining racial profiling, calling for data collection to assess the extent of the problem, train law enforcement officials from the unit commander to the cop-on-the-beat on how to not use this ineffective and counterproductive policy, and finally, offers citizens and the government avenues for private rights of action to ensure accountability to make certain that racial profiling is stopped.”
Mr. Shelton went on to thank Senator Durbin for his “strong support for more than a decade” on behalf of those working to end racial profiling as well as Senator Cardin and Congressman Conyers for their leadership in introducing the End Racial Profiling Act in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate the 112th Congress.
The NAACP’s full testimony can be found at http://www.naacp.org/pages/federal-advocacy-resources.
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