San Francisco Supervisor Shamann Walton (Photo: Facebook)
San Francisco Supervisor Proposes Ordinance To Stop False Police Reports Based On Race
The ‘CAREN Act’ follows a proposed Assembly bill in stopping discriminatory calls and reports.
By Evan Symon, July 8, 2020 2:20 pm
On Tuesday, San Francisco Supervisor Shamann Walton introduced a new ordinance that would make it illegal for unlawfully making a false report based on someone’s race, ethnicity, religion, sex, or sexual orientation.
The CAREN Act
Known as the Caution Against Racially Exploitative Non-Emergencies (CAREN) Act, the ordinance would primarily be aimed at halting emergency calls and actions where race was a factor in reporting something not illegal or against the law. The ordinance would only be invoked if racial or other discriminatory factors were readily apparent.
The ordinance, which is currently under discussion, was influenced by a large number of calls around the Bay Area and nationwide where African Americans had police called against them in places despite no crime occurring. An incident in Oakland in 2018 where a white woman called the police on a black family for having a legal barbecue in a park that made national news has been the most frequently cited case to the ordinance.
“Racist 911 calls are unacceptable that’s why I’m introducing the CAREN Act at today’s SF Board of Supervisors meeting,” said Assemblyman Walton in a tweet on Tuesday explaining his reasoning for proposing the ordinance. “This is the CAREN we need. Caution Against Racially Exploitative Non-Emergencies.”
Racist 911 calls are unacceptable that's why I'm introducing the CAREN Act at today’s SF Board of Supervisors meeting. This is the CAREN we need. Caution Against Racially Exploitative Non-Emergencies. #CARENact #sanfrancisco
— Shamann Walton (@shamannwalton) July 7, 2020
A similar bill in the Assembly
Assemblyman Rob Bonta (D-Oakland) authored a similar bill last year, Assembly Bill 1550, which would make the practice illegal statewide.
“AB 1550 will impose serious consequences on 911 callers who are motivated by an individual’s race, religion, sex, or any other protected class by designating such reports as a hate crime,” explained Assemblyman Bonta last year. “This legislation will also provide a civil remedy for those harmed by discriminatory 911 calls.
“We must not allow people to use our 911 and law enforcement systems as weapons for hate. If you’re afraid of a black family barbecuing in a park, or someone who asks you to comply with dog leash laws in a park, and your immediate response is to call 911, the real problem is with your own personal prejudice!”
The bill received bipartisan support after assurances by lawmakers that the law could be applied to anyone and would not focus on any one race, sex, religion, or other type of person under the law. While AB 1550 quickly swept through the legislature last year, it stalled before the Senate vote. This year the bill has been reactivated and is currently waiting on a hearing before the Senate Public Safety Committee.
Bipartisan support, equal protections
San Francisco’s proposed ordinance would have a similar point of protecting every group of people and not focusing on a singular group for protection.
“Based on what I read, it protects everyone,” explained Orange County lawyer Monique Stalter to the Globe. “The was based on white people calling on black people, but the language makes it perfectly clear that, should the situation happen, it would also be a crime if the reverse happened.
“The [Assemblyman] makes no bones about why this was written. He’s calling it the CAREN Act, which directly ties into the ‘Karen’ nickname given to white women who are seen as racist and/or entitled. But, despite the name, if there was no crime after a call, and it was found to have been based on racism or prejudice or something discriminatory that was listed in the law, it’s illegal.
“You’re wasting the time of the police for one. Two, it’s a false report, because you’re using their race or gender or what have you in reporting it.
“Dems and Republicans are easily for this. There’s no favoritism in the ordinance despite the name. The similar bill in Sacramento I understand has seen the same phenomenon, and again, it’s protecting everyone and isn’t just saying a certain person should be protected against this. Sadly this also means false police phone calls based on discrimination happens all the time to everyone.”
The proposed San Francisco ordinance is largely expected to pass sometime this year. AB 1550 is also expected to pass and be signed by Governor Newsom this year should it get voted in by the end of the session in a few months.
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I suspect the way this will work is once you describe the perpetrator as anything but white you will be charged with a hate crime. This is just another roadblock to law and order.
A large part of the black community is not going to be happy until they are allowed to do whatever they want whenever they want to whoever they want, which is why they want the police and law enforcement gone. This is so they can live their dream of living a life void of having a conscience for their actions or the desire and work involved to understand right and wrong. This nit-wit shaman is helping the dream of making the entire state resemble the inner city or a ghetto become a reality.
He claims it was a ‘ racist ‘ 911 call? What in the world is that? Can he prove the call was racially motivated, or does he simply ‘ assume ‘ it was since the caller was white and the people being called about were black? The racist and fool here is shaman since he’s coming to a conclusion merely based on the color of the caller. What a dimly lit bulb this clown is as well as oakland’s bonta, who are probably just doing what their democrat masters are commanding them to do.
Basically the idea that’s now being pushed all around is black people are oppressed, misunderstood, can do no wrong and should never be punished for anything, BUT white people should be punished and are always guilty because they are white. If that were the case all-black neighborhoods would not be unlivable war zones and white neighborhoods would not be their destination of choice.
False police reports are already illegal and subject to prosecution. Thus this is duplicative; its only purpose is to pander and virtue-signal. That’s all we need, more duplicative legislation, we don’t have enough nonsense and confusion already, right? Of course it’s not a huge surprise to see this time-wasting crap continually introduced by usual-suspect politicians who come out of the San Francisco Bay Area, in this case SF Supervisor Shamann Walton and Asm Rob Bonta (D-Oakland).
Expressiveness Comrades write laws continually on the fly with no use of concrete verified evidence…….subjectiveness and capriciousness mixed with secretive command control, whatever all that means, at the moment, or later, whenever, by whoever.
Even saying something without mentioning race can get you charged with a hate crime; like “ALL LIVES MATTER”. And be careful not to replicate the actions of the angry mob, that too will get a conservative arrested. Just ask that couple in Martinez.