BRIAN R. MARVEL
PORAC President

Fighting for Fairness in RIPA Reform

PORAC has reached an important milestone in our ongoing efforts to ensure California’s law enforcement policies are based on accurate data and fair analysis. In late April, Assembly Bill 284 (Alanis) advanced out of the Assembly Public Safety Committee and headed to the Appropriations Committee. This advancement represents progress in our ongoing efforts to move towards a more honest, transparent process in how the Board assesses racial profiling in California.

We are proud to say that PORAC was the only rank-and-file law enforcement organization testifying at this crucial hearing. Our RIPA board representative, Rich Randolph, made a powerful case for this bill, emphasizing that California’s peace officers will not allow politically motivated recommendations to go unchecked. Officers across California dedicate thousands of hours annually to completing RIPA forms for all types of public interactions. The RIPA board wants to regulate how peace officers do our job with minimal input from us, and we’re committed to ensuring your voices are heard!

I want to be clear: PORAC supports eliminating bias in policing. However, the RIPA board has repeatedly published reports making flawed recommendations based on incomplete data and inaccurate methodology — ignoring critical differences between discretionary stops and calls for service. In addition, collecting racial data and comparing it to population census demographics does not inherently demonstrate bias, as it fails to account for contextual factors like crime rates, call-for-service patterns or officer deployment in specific areas. This results in an unfair representation of law enforcement and misinformed recommendations that are doing more harm than good.

Recent Developments

While AB 284 was making promising progress, there was a significant development in our RIPA reform efforts. The bill is currently being held in Assembly Appropriations at the request of the Legislative Black Caucus. To ensure the best possible outcome, we immediately engaged in conversation with Secretary of State Dr. Shirley Weber, her daughter, Senator Dr. Akilah Weber Pierson, members of the Legislative Black Caucus and our bill author, Assemblymember Juan Alanis.

This productive discussion resulted in a full commitment from all attendees to continue working together on law enforcement’s concerns with the RIPA board and the products of their work. In exchange for this commitment to collaborative reform, Assemblymember Alanis agreed to make AB 284 a two-year bill. This strategic decision allows us time to build a broader consensus while maintaining momentum toward meaningful improvements.

Following the meeting, Senator Dr. Weber Pierson sent a text thanking us for the discussion and reaffirming her commitment to working with PORAC on this issue. This acknowledgment from key stakeholders highlights PORAC’s steadfast openness to collaboration, setting us apart from our opposition, who consistently fail to engage law enforcement in a meaningful dialogue.

Looking Forward

We are committed to making progress through a series of follow-up meetings. PORAC and our co-sponsors will be actively engaged in a collaborative approach that has proven to be uniquely effective in getting things done. These discussions will focus on addressing the core issues we’ve identified with the current RIPA process, including more balanced representation on the RIPA board, formal mechanisms for including dissenting opinions in annual reports, improved data collection methodologies and a more collaborative approach to developing policy recommendations based on factual evidence for meaningfully improving public safety.

The decision to make AB 284 a two-year bill is not a retreat from our objectives but a strategic shift that acknowledges the complexity of the issues at stake. By engaging directly with influential lawmakers and gaining their commitment to address our concerns, we’ve potentially opened a more effective path to achieving the necessary changes we seek.

While this legislative journey will take longer than initially planned, PORAC remains steadfastly committed to standing at the frontlines — making sure your voice is heard and your work is defended. We’ll keep you informed as these follow-up meetings take place and as we continue pushing for a fair, accurate and constructive RIPA process that serves both law enforcement and the communities we protect.