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On Wednesday, the Oregon Senate voted 28-1 in favor of a bill aimed at combatting law enforcement profiling. The bill now awaits Gov. Kate Brown's signature.
(Harry Esteve/The Oregonian)
SALEM -- A bill aimed at combating profiling by law enforcement soundly passed the Oregon Senate on Wednesday.
House Bill 2002 requires all Oregon law enforcement agencies by January to ban profiling and establish a framework for reporting profiling incidents. The measure now heads to Gov. Kate Brown for her signature.
The bill seeks to prevent police from targeting suspects based only on "real or perceived factors" including a person's race, age, gender, language or a number of other identifying traits -- unless the officer is acting on precise information from a report.
The bill was lauded by civil rights advocacy groups, which encouraged legislators to support the bill in the wake of police shootings in Ferguson, Missouri, and Baltimore. It allocates $250,000 to a Portland State University committee to track profiling complaints across Oregon.
In addition, a 10-member committee appointed by various branches of state government would prepare a report by December on racial profiling, with a list of strategies to combat the practice.
"At this very difficult time in our country's history - Charleston, Ferguson, Baltimore - let's take this important step together," Sen. Chip Shields, D-Portland, said in a floor speech.
-- Jacy Marmaduke
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