San Francisco Supervisors To Take Up Racial Profiling Resolution
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) - A resolution before the Board of Supervisors would establish a formal city policy opposing racial profiling of Muslim, Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim and South Asian communities by law enforcement.
The statement was drafted after a lengthy study of the relationship between police and Islamic communities by the city's Human Rights Commission.
The report outlines instances of FBI agents approaching Muslim organizations and cases of apparent profiling at San Francisco International Airport, said HRC staffer Nadia Babella.
"Targeting of political and religious organizations for surveillance alienates the community, breeds mistrust of law enforcement and has a chilling effect," she said.
KCBS' Barbara Taylor Reports:
Anti-Arab comments District Attorney George Gascon made in 2010 while he was campaigning, as police chief, for an earthquake safety bond to retrofit the Hall of Justice were still a sore point, according to several who testified as the report was presented to the Public Safety Committee.
Gascon quickly apologized, but Babella and others said the concerns of religious and racial profiling remain.
The committee chaired by Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi has already endorsed the resolution. The full board takes it up on April 5.
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