San Francisco Karens, beware! Racially motivated or biased phone calls made to 911 could lead to criminal charges.
Supervisor Shamann Walton introduced the CAREN Act on Tuesday at a San Francisco Board of Supervisors meeting, CNN reports. The ordinance’s moniker is short for Caution Against Racially Exploitative Non-Emergencies. It's also a seeming play on the notorious “Karen" archetype, defined by Urban Dictionary as “the stereotypical name associated with rude, obnoxious and insufferable middle aged white women.”
Supervisor Matt Haney, co-author of the bill, said false reports do more harm than good and need to be taken more seriously.
"Racist false reports put people in danger and waste resources," Haney tweeted on Tuesday.
Today I joined as co-author of @shamannwalton's CAREN Act (Caution Against Racially Exploitative Non-Emergencies Act).
The CAREN Act makes it unlawful to fabricate false racially biased emergency reports.
Racist false reports put people in danger and waste resources.
— Matt Haney (@MattHaneySF) July 7, 2020
According to KRON 4, a local woman was dubbed “San Francisco Karen,” after she called police on a Filipino man for writing “Black lives matter” outside of his own home in June.
A white couple call the police on me, a person of color, for stencilling a #BLM chalk message on my own front retaining wall. “Karen” lies and says she knows that I don’t live in my own house, because she knows the person who lives here. #blacklivesmatter
pic.twitter.com/rOpHvKVwgP— Jaimetoons (@jaimetoons) June 12, 2020
Amy Cooper earned her Karen stripes while crying wolf in Central Park on Memorial Day. Birdwatcher Christian Cooper received threats from Amy, who was caught on tape saying she would call the police and “tell them there's an African American man threatening my life," as Blavity previously reported.
The CAREN Act resembles California Assemblyman Rob Bonta’s statewide AB 1550 bill introduced last month. Bonta’s bill would make it unlawful for someone to call the police and "fabricate false racially biased emergency reports." He said anyone's desire to call for emergency resources to use against people grilling in the park has more to do with people’s personal prejudices than any law enforcement issue.
"Racist and discriminatory 911 calls are dangerous, demeaning and demoralizing to the person falsely accused. They further deteriorate community-police relations and contribute to the inaccurate and harmful over-criminalization of black and brown communities," Bonta said in a statement about the bill.
"If you are afraid of a black family barbecuing in the community park, a man dancing and doing his normal exercise routine in the bike lane, or someone who asks you to comply with dog leash laws in a park, and your immediate response is to call the police, the real problem is with your own personal prejudice," Bonta continued.
In Los Angeles, Councilman Curren Price introduced a like-minded bill, which would look into "criminal penalties, rights of victims to bring private civil actions and cost recovery by the City," in racially biased emergency calls, per a June 17 tweet.
I introduced a motion today that would make it illegal to call 911 to make a false report based on racial bias. I'm asking City departments to explore our options, including criminal penalties, rights of victims to bring private civil actions and cost recovery by the City. pic.twitter.com/T3OizTxMU1
— Curren D. Price, Jr. (@CurrenDPriceJr) June 17, 2020
A similar law was enacted by the Oregon Legislature this year that gives victims of racially motivated 911 calls the option to sue the perpetrator for damages up to $250.
