ACTION ALERT: Stop Racial Profiling in Colorado. Support HB 1114

[nyork@verinet.com (Nancy York)]

Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2001 22:28:06 -0700
From: John Kefalas <johnk@verinet.com>

Dear justice, peace, environment & mennonite friends:

Let us support HB-1114 by calling members of the Civil Justice &
Judiciary Committee.

john kefalas

Original message:

Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2001 01:43:32 EST
Subject: (CPC News) ACTION ALERT:  Stop Racial Profiling in Colorado
To: Coprogressive@aol.com

CPC Legislative Action Alert:  January 21, 2001
Please read, print out, forward to a friend, and make a call!

STOP  RACIAL  PROFILING  IN  COLORADO

BACKGROUND
Many people of color in Colorado and across the U.S. have experienced racial
profiling by law enforcement officers.  This profiling often takes the form
of traffic stops that harass innocent people of color drivers because they
fit a misguided, and racist, criminal "profile".

Colorado Progressive Coalition's Campaign to Stop Racial Profiling began with
a summer 2000 community surveying project and the publication of a report,
Racial Profiling in Denver:  Survey Responses and Real Life Experiences in
Denver's Cole Neighborhood.  This report attracted a great deal of attention
and agreement--as well as denials from law enforcement agencies.

COLORADO HOUSE BILL 1114 INTRODUCED
State Representative Peter Groff (D-Denver), a friend of CPC, has decided to
sponsor legislation to address racial profiling in Colorado.  His bill, House
Bill 1114, will require all local and county law enforcement agencies
(serving 25,000 or more people) and the Colorado State Patrol to collect data
on traffic stops that they make.  This data must include the race, gender,
and age of the person stopped and what enforcement action, if any, was taken.
 Rep. Groff's bill will also set up a toll-free hotline for people to call
the Colorado Bureau of Investigation if they believe that they have
experienced racial profiling.

MAKE A CALL TODAY-COMMITTEE VOTE ON JANUARY 30
House Bill 1114 has been assigned to the House Civil Justice and Judiciary
Committee and will have its first committee hearing on Tuesday, January 30.
CPC is asking you to make a call (or calls) to members of this committee to
ask them to vote "Yes" on HB 1114.

WHY COLORADO LEGISLATORS SHOULD VOTE "YES"
>From civil rights leaders to John Ashcroft, most people agree that racial
profiling is wrong and that it violates the civil rights of too many people,
mostly people of color who are men and young.  This bill is a simple one and
would only require that law enforcement agencies collect information on their
stops and release this information to the public.  This data may give
statistical proof, as many civil rights supporters suspect, that racial
profiling does exist in Colorado.  This will help our state to address law
enforcement practices with people of color and could begin to build trust
between police and communities.

MAKE A CALL (OR CALLS) TODAY!  VOTE YES ON HB 1114!
The committee will vote on HB 1114 on Tuesday, January 30.  It will be a
difficult vote and your calls could make the difference!  Call the committee
member nearest to you or call all of them.

Civil Justice and Judiciary Committee Members (call 800.811.7647 if outside
the Metro area)

Rep. Shawn Mitchell (R-Broomfield/Adams County; Chair)  303.866.4667
Rep. Don Lee (R-Littleton/Jefferson County; Vice-Chair) 303.866.2939
Rep. Bob Bacon (D-Fort Collins)                         303.866.2917
Rep. Betty Boyd (D-Lakewood)                            303.866.2923
Rep. Cheri Jahn (D-Wheat Ridge/Jefferson County)        303.866.5522
Rep. Steve Johnson (R-Fort Collins/Larimer County)      303.866.2907
Rep. Alice Madden (D-Boulder)                           303.866.2915
Rep. Jim Snook (R-Alamosa/San Luis Valley)          303.866.2963
Rep. Joe Stengel (R-Littleton/Arapahoe, Jefferson Counties) 303.866.2953

THANK YOU!
Thank you for your commitment to civil rights in Colorado.  For more
information on HB 1114 or the Campaign to Stop Racial Profiling, contact the
Colorado Progressive Coalition at 303.866.0908 or coprogressive@aol.com.


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