By Ian K. Kullgren
Oregon Live
Gov. Kate Brown signed legislation aimed at curbing profiling by police. The new law creates a system for people to report profiling incidents and requires law enforcement agencies to pass formal profiling bans by Jan. 1 of next year.
Profiling, under the House Bill 2002, is an instance where an officer targets someone for a suspected violation solely based on a characteristic such characteristic such as race, age, national origin, sexual orientation and homelessness. The bill gives $250,000 to Portland State University’s Criminal Justice Policy Research Institute to help track data on the incidents.
Last year, the Portland Police Bureau released a report showing African American were pulled over and searched for minor traffic violations more than other racial groups. The report showed 13 percent of African American drivers stopped by police were also searched, compared to 3 percent of white drivers.
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