CALIFORNIA POLICE DISPROPRTIONATELY CITE BLACK AND LATINO RESIDENTS FOR NON-TRAFFIC INFRACTIONS LIKE SITTING AND SLEEPING IN PUBLIC, STUDY SAYS.

In Los Angeles, 30% of citations for non-traffic infractions between 2017 and 2019 were issued to Black residents, though they make up just 7% of the city’s population, according the study, which was released Wednesday by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area.

Black adults in L.A. were issued 63% of all citations for loitering while standing, the report says. And they were 3.8 times likelier to be issued citations for non-traffic infractions than White adults. …

These citations are generally punishable by a fine, the report says, and include things like jaywalking, owning a dog without a license, standing or sleeping outside, among others. And they have long been used to police homeless members of a community, the report says.

“The big conclusion is that people feel like they’re being told not to exist in public spaces when they’re cited for these non-traffic infractions — walking, standing, having a dog, sleeping, etc.,” said Tifanei Ressl-Moyer, one of the study’s authors and the LCCRSF Thurgood Marshall Civil Rights Fellow. …

These minor infractions are enforced in a way that’s “racist and classist,” the report says. These citations do not guarantee a defendant a right to an attorney, it says, leaving “little recourse for people who are targeted for enforcement because of their race.”