# Proposed Ordinance Could Make It A Crime To Call Police On People of color.



## RodneyFarva (Jan 18, 2007)

*Your daily dose of dumb.*

Grand Rapids, MI - Grand Rapids city leaders are considering a proposed human rights ordinance that would make it a criminal offense for citizens to call police on people of color if it is determined they haven't broken any laws.

The commission held a public hearing on the ordinance on April 23, to discuss "making it a criminal misdemeanor to racially profile people of color for participating in their lives," according to a city press release.
The proposed human rights ordinance defined a plethora of protected classes that have allegedly been the subjects of "biased crime reporting."

Under the proposed ordinance, citizens would be prohibited from "knowingly or recklessly" reporting crimes or potential crimes "if such report is based&#8230;on the individuals' membership in a protected class and not on a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity in consideration of all available facts and the totality of the circumstances."

Anyone determined to have violated the ordinance would face a potential $500 fine, according to WOOD. 
"They look bad because they approach individuals who are people of color, and it appears the police department is biased when really they're responding to phone calls made by the community and it appears that a number of those are motivated by people in a discriminatory way," he explained.

Resident Lisa Wood told the commission that she is in favor of the ordinance because she is concerned about the welfare of her biracial grandchildren, WOOD reported.

"I am appalled that I live in a city that has to have an ordinance that tells people not to call the police on people because of the color of their skin," Wood said. "I refuse to let them grow up in that kind of world."

Grand Rapids Diversity and Inclusion Manager Patti Caudill said that the ordinance is not intended to discourage people from placing 911 calls, according to MLive.

"Call the police, but if you're calling because your neighbors are having a barbecue and you're calling because of some implicit bias because they're people of color, we don't want to see that," Caudill said.

Proponents of the ordinance claim that law enforcement officers have needlessly been dispatched to multiple scenes unnecessarily due to discrimination or implicit bias on the part of citizens reporting alleged crimes, MLive reported.

"Often times, the Grand Rapids Police Department ends up being caught in the middle of what is a bigger community problem," LINC Up advocacy group director Jeremy DeRoo said. 
"It is good that we as a community value leaving people alone and letting them live their lives without fear of discrimination, but we already have laws saying it's illegal to discriminate based on their protected class, and to create additional redundant legislation does nothing," one resident said, according to WOOD.

The city commission is scheduled to vote on the ordinance sometime after May 14.
"If you're in a park or see someone coming through the neighborhood who doesn't look like you, check your bias before you call the police," she added, according to The Washington Post.

Critics noted that the proposed ordinance would be difficult to enforce because the intent of the person calling police is not always known.

"How will investigators of the alleged bias determine what is truly a sinister and criminal motive from a simple misunderstanding?" one citizen asked the commission, according to The Washington Post.

Others expressed concerns that people would likely hesitate to report crimes to police out of fear of making a mistake and being criminally charged.

Law enforcement agencies generally encourage people to report suspicious behavior, even if they don't know a crime is being committed.

Citizens also noted that filing a false police report is already an illegal act, and argued that the new ordinance is redundant.


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## Kilvinsky (Jan 15, 2007)

Citizens also noted that filing a false police report is already an illegal act, and argued that the new ordinance is redundant.


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## AB7 (Feb 12, 2019)

This new ordinance definitely seems like it won’t cause any problems. *eye roll*


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## CCCSD (Jul 30, 2017)




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## pahapoika (Nov 5, 2006)

Case like this happened years ago in the neighboring suburb of Boston. Old woman called the cops because she saw a guy sitting in a car across the street from her house unaware that the neighbors daughter had invited her friend home from high school.

The father was sitting outside waiting to pick the daughter up when the police rolled up on him. They asked him what he was doing, said it was none of their business , copped an attitude and he was arrested.

Turns out he was a lawyer or something like that and sued the balls off of that town. 

That was many moons ago and can't really see any mordern day police department operating in that fashion. Perhaps community activists trying to stay relevant ?

That's a dangerous game . It's detrimental to the city and its relationship with law enforcement.


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## HistoryHound (Aug 30, 2008)

People shouldn't be discouraged from reporting something that concerns them. That scenario could have ended differently if the guy had just said that he was there to pick up his kid. Should the neighbor have called? Maybe. Should the police have investigated the report? Absolutely. He may have been there for a legitimate reason, but the only way to know for sure is to ask him. We have people come through the neighborhood selling stuff fairly often in the decent weather. Am I not supposed to call the station about the shady guys pushing discount house cleaning? Should they not respond because when I describe the pair and their vehicle my description doesn't include the word "white"? A few years after we moved here, we got a knock on the door from a detective because one of my neighbors had her house broken into in the middle of the afternoon while she was in her backyard. I didn't see anything then, but you bet your ass I'm calling if I see something shady now.


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## Kilvinsky (Jan 15, 2007)

"9-11 what's your emergency?"
"There is a human being acting suspiciously outside my house and has been there at least 15 minutes just hanging around."
"Can you describe him?"
"I didn't say it was a male or a female."
"Can you describe the person?"
"I'd rather not."
"Can I at least ask what the person is doing that seems suspicious?"
"You know what, never mind. I'm just going to pull the blinds. Thank you and have a nice day."


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## mpd61 (Aug 7, 2002)

Ah HA HA HA HA HA HA, HO HO HO HO, HEE HEE HEE.............
Priceless!!!!


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## pahapoika (Nov 5, 2006)

HistoryHound said:


> People shouldn't be discouraged from reporting something that concerns them. That scenario could have ended differently if the guy had just said that he was there to pick up his kid. Should the neighbor have called? Maybe. Should the police have investigated the report? Absolutely. He may have been there for a legitimate reason, but the only way to know for sure is to ask him. We have people come through the neighborhood selling stuff fairly often in the decent weather. Am I not supposed to call the station about the shady guys pushing discount house cleaning? Should they not respond because when I describe the pair and their vehicle my description doesn't include the word "white"? A few years after we moved here, we got a knock on the door from a detective because one of my neighbors had her house broken into in the middle of the afternoon while she was in her backyard. I didn't see anything then, but you bet your ass I'm calling if I see something shady now.


Yeah the town lawyer was in way over his head. Really nice guy just wasn't prepared for something like that.

Then again who is ? Once you get your Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton types howling in front of the cameras your pretty much toast


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