LAPD Chief Michel Moore has proposed a new policy authorizing use of “pretext stops,” which are used to harass and criminalize Black, brown, and poor people as well as to collect data for LAPD’s surveillance systems. You can read more about these abusive stops here. While claiming to restrict or limit these stops, the policy in fact spells out how officers can continue the same abusive behavior under a new guise. This is the latest in a long line of sham “reforms” that LAPD has embraced as a means of sanitizing, expanding, and codifying its violence and discrimination.
The Board of Police Commissioners is taking public comment on this sham proposal by email to stops@lapd.online up until Tuesday, February 15, 2022 at 5pm. We’ve also written a letter condemning the policy and explaining why it’s dangerous. Feel free to reference and attach the letter in your emails to stops@lapd.online.