"By our own rules and ordinances, we're not supposed to keep track of gang members. Now, we're not allowed to track anyone by their gang association. CalGang contained the personal information of roughly 80,000 suspected gang members - all of which has now been lost to police."
"California's then-Attorney General Xavier Becerra ordered police departments across the state to stop using gang database on July 14, 2020, over claims officers had allegedly falsified gang affiliations. The decision also came after sustained pressure by activists who were lobbying for police reform following the death of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement."
"They're not reforms - what's the opposite of reform? It's degrading. It's totally consistent with the priorities of Sacramento, caring more about career criminals than they do about innocent law-abiding citizens."
The LAPD's Gang and Narcotics Division reports significant operational challenges following the 2020 ban on the CalGang database, which contained information on approximately 80,000 suspected gang members. California's then-Attorney General Xavier Becerra ordered police departments statewide to cease using the database due to claims of falsified gang affiliations by officers. Police reform activists and groups like the Liberty Hill Foundation supported the ban, arguing the database discriminated against Black and Latino men who comprised 90% of entries. However, federal prosecutors argue the decision undermines local law enforcement capabilities and shifts responsibility to the federal justice system, characterizing it as degrading rather than reformative.
#gang-database-ban #police-reform #lapd-operations #criminal-justice-policy #law-enforcement-challenges
Read at California Post
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