Racial and Identity Profiling Act (RIPA) Data

Beginning on July 1, 2018, law enforcement agencies in California, starting with the eight largest “Tier One Agencies,” began collecting police stop data in compliance with Assembly Bill (AB) 953 (Racial and Identity Profiling Act - https://oag.ca.gov/ab953). 
Data is collected on stops of people who were arrested, detained, or searched, including consensual searches. 

IMPORTANT DATES:

• The Los Altos Police Department is required to begin collecting data on January 1, 2022.  
• The Police Department voluntarily began collecting data a year in advance, on February 1, 2021.  
• The California State Department of Justice (DOJ) will begin accepting collected data from the Los Altos Police Department in 2022.  
• The first report, encompassing data from July 1, 2021, through December 31, 2021, will be submitted to the DOJ by April 1, 2022.  That data will be included in the 2022 RIPA Board annual report later that year.  The 2022 RIPA board report will encompass all data collected by agencies during calendar year 2021.  Previous RIPA Board reports are available here: RIPA Board Reports | State of California - Department of Justice - Office of the Attorney General 

The Police Department has diligently worked to comply with AB953 while balancing privacy concerns of the public and stringent reporting requirements.  The department acquired an application-based reporting system with built in controls that ensure accurate reporting and efficiency in data collection.

The current report (posted below) includes all RIPA stop data collected by the Los Altos Police Department from February 1, 2021, through August 31, 2021.

• Each stop required officers to answer between 21-35 questions, collecting up to 125 data points per stop. 
• Data was collected on 1,440 individuals during 1,425 stops within the listed time frame. The information collected is based on the officer’s perception of the individual’s identity (i.e., race, gender, sexual orientation, age, and several other factors) and the actions taken during the stop.

The members of the Los Altos Police Department continue to strive to earn the trust of our community, promote transparency and maintain the highest level of public safety service.