Although his executive order mandating that CHP collect racial data would remain in effect, it would last only until 2002. Several major law enforcement groups had opposed mandatory data collection and lobbied Davis' office on the issue. Sheriff Doyle told The Light that the California State Sheriff's Association was opposed to mandatory data collection largely because the process is so time consuming. Bill 'a fraud' After publicly blasting the dilution of SB 1389, Michelle Alexander, director of the Racial Justice Coalition, in June spoke out again against the bill. Giving business cards to victims of racial profiling is like offering aspirin to cancer patients.
Data collection is an essential first step in addressing racial profiling.
Earlier this month, two black Congressional representatives, John Conyers and Maxine Waters, also urged Davis to revisit his veto of the data collection bill, noting that seven states have enacted such legislation. In his defense, Davis has pointed out that approximately 55 police and sheriff's departments statewide have begun or agreed to voluntarily collect ethnicity data. Among them are Alameda County, Solano County, Oakland, San Francisco, San Jose, and Berkeley. Not all results of the monitoring effort have proved encouraging. Last December, the city of San Jose released a preliminary report on three months worth of traffic stops by police.