based on race, ethnicity, religion, or national origin is disturbing, i think it's important also to note that it is poor law enforcement. law enforcement is a finite resource. using law enforcement resources profiling as opposed to relying on our facts based on behavior suggesting a crime is a waste of that law enforcement resource. it leaves us less safe and more at risk when we don't target based on conduct and behavior suggestive of a crime but based on other considerations informed by prejudice. my comments today will focus on religious profiling of american muslims. up to 6 million americans know what it's like to be looked upon with suspicion in the post-9/11 america. perhaps even before. although muslim americans work hard and play by the rules and a

small number don't. many even live the american dream and send their kids to college and earn a living just like everyone else. yet, many know all too well what it means to be pulled off of an airplane, pulled out of line, denied service, called names, or even physically attacked. like other americans, muslim-americans want law enforcement to uphold public safety. and not be viewed as a threat, but as an ally. when fbi for example, shows up at homes or offices of american-muslims who haven't done anything wrong, it makes them feel targeted and under suspicion and it diminishes the important connection between law enforcement and citizens that is necessary to protect all of us. when muslim-americans get pulled out of line at an airport, questioned for hours, these are

questions actually asked -- where do you go? why did you give them $200 donation? do you pray? how often? when questions like this are asked, which have nothing to do with conduct behavior subjective of a crime, it erodes the connection between law enforcement and citizens. no american should be forced to answer questions about how they worship. i was particularly disturbed when i heard stories coming out of the controversy in new york about kids being spied on in colleges th s by the muslim stu association. i was proud when my son was elected president of the muslim student association at his college, but i wonder, was my 18-year-old son subject to surveillance like the kids were at yale, columbia, and penn? he's a good kid who's never done anything wrong. and i worry to think he might be

in somebody's file simply because he wanted to be active on campus. ile am a great representer of law enforcement and recognize the tough job they have to keep us safe, but i think it is very important to focus on the proper use of law enforcement resources and not to give an opening for someone to stereotype or prejudice. as one bush administration official once said, religious or ethnic or racial stereotyping is typically not good policing and threatens the values americans hold dear. to fix this problem once and for all, i urge the attorney general to close the loophole in the justice department's racial profiling guidance and urge my colleagues in congress to pass the end racial profiling act. thank you. >> thanks, congressman ellison. i could have added in my opening statement comments made by president george w. bush after 9/11 which i thought were solid

statements of constitutional principle. particularly when it came to those of the muslim faith, that our war is not against this islamic religion, but against those who would corrupt it, distort it, and misuse it in the name of terrorism. and i thank you for your test knownmy. >> thank you, sir. >> congresswoman judy chu represents the 32nd district of california. since 2009. she was the first chinese-american woman ever elected to congress. she chairs the congressional asian-pacific american caucus. formally she served in the california state assembly. we're honored that you're here today. please proceed. >> thank you, senator. as chair of the congressional asian pacific american caucus, i'm grateful for the opportunity to speak here today about ending racial profiling in america. asian-americans and pacific islanders like other minority communities have felt the significant effect of racial profiling throughout american history. from the chinese exclusion act,

to the japanese-american internment, and the post-9/11 racial profiling of arabs, muslims, we know what it's like to be targeted by our own government. it results in harassment, bullying, and sometimes even violence. in the house judiciary committee, we recently listened to the anguished testimony of those constantly humiliated as they were pulled out of lines at airports because of their turbines and made to wait in glass cages like animals on display. they were pulled into rooms to be interrogated for hours and even infants were searched. this has forced muslim-americans to fly less frequently or remove religious attire just to accommodate these unfairly targeted practices. and just last year, i was shocked to learn about the activities of the new york police department and the cia who were secretly spying on

muslim-americans. despite the lack of any real evidence of wrongdoing, officers were monitoring muslim-american communities and eavesdropping on families. recording everything from where they prayed to the restaurants they ate in. the nypd entered several states in the northeast to monitor muslim student organizations at college campus s campuses. these students had done nothing suspicious. they were studying islam. the regression of some of the darkest periods of our history where we mistrust our own citizens and spied on their daily lives and it has no place in our modern society. when law enforcement uses racial profiling against a group, it replaces trust with fear and hurts communication. the community and law enforcement instead need to be partners to prevent crimes and assure us the safety of all americans.

when the civil liberties of any group is violated, we all suffer. in fact, over 60 years ago during world war ii, 120,000 japanese-americans lost everything that they had and were relocated to isolated internment camps throughout the country because of hysteria and scapegoating. in the end, not a single case of espionage was ever proven. but there were not enough voices to speak up against this injustice. today, there must be those voices that will speak up. we must stand up for the rights of all americans. that is why i urge all members of congress to support the end racial profiling act. we must protect the ideals of justice and equal protection under the law so that our country is one where no one is made to feel unsafe, unequal, or un-american because of their faith or ethnicity.

thank you. >> thank you, congresswoman. the next witness is congresswoman fredricka wilson. she represents the 17th congressional district which as i understand includes sanford, florida. previously, she served in the florida house of representatives from 1999 to 2002. and in the florida senate from 2003 to 2010. congresswoman wilson, thank you for joining us today, and proceed. >> thank you. to represent miami, where trayvon is from, in sanford. thank you. thank you, chairman durbin, ranking member graham, and senator blumenthal and other members of the subcommittee. i thank you for inviting me to testify today on the issue of racial profiling. last week, after 45 days, an arrest was finally made in shooting death of my constituent trayvon martin.

trayvon was a 17-year-old boy walking home from a store. he was unarmed and simply walking with skittles and iced tea. he went skiing in the winter and horseback riding in the summer. his brother and best friend is a senior at florida international university of miami. a middle class family, but that didn't matter. he was still profiled. followed, chased, and murdered. this case has captured international attention and will go down in history as a textbook example of racial profiling. his murder affected me personally and it broke my heart again. i have buried so many young black boys, it is extremely traumatizing for me. when my own son who is now a school principal learned how to drive, i baought him a cell phoe because i knew he would be profiled and he was. he is still fearful of law

enforcement and what they might do when he is driving. i have three grandsons. a 1, a 3, and a 5-year-old. i hope we can solve this issue before they receive a driver's license. i pray for them even now. they're the real tension between black boys and the police, not perceived, but real. if you walk into any inner city school and ask the students, have you ever been racially profiled? everyone will raise their hand. boys and girls. they've been followed as they shop in stores. they've been stopped by the police for no apparent reason. and they know at a young age that they will be profiled. i'm a staunch child advocate. i don't care what color the child is. i was a school principal, school board member, a state legislator, and now in congress. i desperately care about my welfare of all children.

they are my passion. but i've learned from my experiences that black boys in particular are at risk. years of economic and legal disenfranchisement, the legacy of slavery in jim crow have led to serious social, economic, disparities practices against black boys and men. trayvon martin was a victim of this legacy. this legacy that has led to fear, this legacy that has led to the isolation of black males. this legacy has led to racial profiling. trayvon was murdered by someone who thought he looked suspicion. the social status of black men and boys in florida when i was in the state senate. i believe we need to account for a commission on this on the national and federal level. everyone should understand that our entire society is impacted. a federal commission on the social status of black men and boys should be established

specifically to focus on alleviating, correcting down the line costs of school suspensions, homicides, incarcerati incarcerations, poverty, violence, drug abuse as well as income, health and educational disparities among black males. i have spent 20 years building a mentoring and tdropout preventin program for at-risk boys in miami-dade county public schools. it's called the 5,000 role models of excellence project. boys are taught not only how to be productive members of society by emulating mentors who are role models in the community, they're also taught how to respond to racial profiling. it is a sad reality that we have to teach boys these things just to survive in their own communities, but we do. we need to have a national conversation about racial profiling now. not later. the time is now to stand up and address these issues and then

fight injustice that exists throughout our nation. enough is enough. thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you, congresswoman. unless my colleagues have questions of this panel, i will allow them to return to their senate house duties. thank you very, very much for being here today. now we'll turn to our second panel of witnesses. each of them will please take their place at the witness table. before you take your seats, wait until everyone's in place and i ask you to please stand and be

sworn. we have everyone here. ask the witnesses to please raise their right hand. do you affirm the testimony you're about to give for the committee will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you god? thank you very much, and let the record reflect that the witnesses all answered in the affirmative. first witness is ronald davis. chief of police for the city of east palo alto, california, since 2005. before that, 19 years with the oakland police department where he rose to the rank of captain. chief davis served on the federal monitoring teams overseeing police reform consent decrees between the u.s. department of justice, washington, d.c., and detroit. among other publications, he's co-authored the justice department monograph, how to

correctly collect and analyze racial profiling data. your reputation depends on it. he has a bachelor's of science degree from southern illinois university in carbondale. testified at both the previous senate hearings on racial profiling, and sorry it's been so long since we've resumed this conversation. it's an honor to have you return. a few years later to bring us up to date. the at this point, chief davis, floor is yours for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. good morning, mr. chairman and distinguished subcommittee members. i'm ronald davis. i'm currently the chief of police for the city of east palo alto, california. i am humbled to provide testimony at today's hearing. as was mentioned i had honor of testifying at the last senate hearings on racial profiling in 2001. when asked to come before this committee today, the first thought that came to my mind was actually a question. what has changed since my testimony in 2001 when president bush then stated, racial profiling is wrong, we will end it in america.

my testimony, three diverse perspectives. second, as a police executive with over 20 years experience working in two of the greatest and most diverse communities in the nation, oakland and east palo alto. third, as a black man and father of a teenage boy of color. first, from my perspective as an expert, i think it is fair to say law enforcement has made progress. albeit limited in addressing the issue of racial profiling and bias state policing. over the past ten years the department of justice civil rights division through its pattern of practice investigations has worked with law enforcement agencies nationwide to provide guidance on racial profiling policies and promote industry best practices. most recently the cops office in partnership with the national network for state communities is working on issues of racial reconciliation in communities to further strengthen these relationships and reduce crime and violence in those communities. today, there are very few police agencies in the united states that do not have some type of policy prohibiting racial profiling and bias state policing. this progress, however, is

fierce lly undermined by two fol points. first there exists no national standard definition for racial profiling that prohibits the use of race, national origin and religion, except when describing a person. consequent consequently, many state and local policies describe racial profiling as using race as the sole basis for a stop, or police action. unfortunately this policy is misleading and suggests using race as a factor for anything other than the description it's justified which it is not. simply put, mr. chairman, race is a descriptor, not a predic r predictor. when we deem a person to be suspicion or attach criminality to a person because of the color of their skin, the neighborhood they are walking in, or the clothing they are wearing, we're attempting to predict criminality. the problem with such predictions is that we are seldom right in our result and always wrong in our approach. the same holds true within the immigration context as well. because a person looks latino or

mexican does not mean the person is undocumented and should not mean they're stopped or asked for their papers. according to recent laws in alabama and arizona, the police are not just encouraged to make proper discriminatory stops, they're required to do so. most police chiefs agree engaging in these activities actually make our communities less safe. this ione reason why i joined the major city police chief association and law enforcement executives in filing a brief challenging the arizona law. we need to pass the end the racial profiling act of 2011. this puts forth a standard definition for racial profiling. requires evidence-based training to curtail the practice and support in data collection and analysis practices. we also need the justice department to revise its guidance regarding the use of race in law enforcement aswrge y agencies. this will close loopholes that permit unlawful and ineffective profiling. it makes no sense to exclude

religion from prohibition when profiling or treat terrorism or immigration enforcement different from other law enforcement efforts. i also fear that without this legislation, we will continue business as usual. and only respond to issues when they surface through high-profile strategies such as the case in oakland and the trayvon martin case in florida. the second factor that undermines our progress is the dire need for us to reform the entire criminal justice system. the last top to bottom review of our system was conducted in 1967 through the president's commission on law enforcement administration of justice. we must now examine the entire system through a new prism that protects against inequities such as racial profiling, incour incarceration rates and laws. mr. chairman, from my perspective as police executive with over 27 years i know firsthand how ineffective racial profiling is. in east palo alto, my community,

we're more than 95% of color, 60% latino, approximately 30% african-american. and rapidly growing asian and pacific islander community. in 2005, the city experienced unfortunately the second highest murder per capita rate in california, and the fifth in january 2006, with the six months serving as chief of police, east palo alto officer richard may was shot and killed on the line of duty by a parolee just three months out of prison. wit the crime rate and violence against the police officer, my community had to choices, either declare war on parolees or engage in enforcement activities that would further the incarceration of young men in color or do something different. we chose to strengthen our relationships. we chose not to engage in racial profiling. we started a parolee department,

provide re-entry services. police officers now are part of treatment. we provide cognitive life skills, drug awareness and treatment programs and together, we were able to reduce the recidivism rate from over 60% to under 20%. after five years the murder rate in 2011 was 47% lower than 2005. our incarceration rates have dropped and i am very confident in saying we have better police and community relations. for me and my community we recognize that racial profiling, that the focus on people of color especially young men are more likely to occur when law enforcement uses race to start guessing. i'm here to really reinforce that is an ineffective police practicing, it is sloppy, it is counting on guesswork. the notion that we as a community or we as a nation must use racial profiling to make ourselves secure or sacrifice civil liberty is not only false, it wreaks of hypocrisy.

if we were truly worried about national security in the sense of compromising civil liberties it would make sense we would also ask or those engaging in profiling would also ask for the prohibition of firearms. we have lost over 100,000 americans to gun violence since 9/11. that is more than we have lost in terrorism and the wars in afghanistan and iraq combined, yet there's not an equal call for gun laws. i'm not suggesting there should be, i'm offering the idea of compromising civil rights for national security does not work. what is equally troubling with the idea of using race, national origin and religion and the national security context, that suggests the most powerful nation in the world, a nation equipped with law enforcement and national security experts that are second to none, must rely on bias and guesswork to make ourselves secure versus human intelligence, technology, experience and the cooperation of the american people. i want to strongly emphasize this point, senator, there is no

reason to profile on the basis of race, religion, national origin or ethnicity. lastly, and importantly, my last perspective is as a black man in america. i am still subject to increased scrutiny from the community, from my own profession and from my country because of the color of my skin. as i mentioned earlier, i'm a father of three, but i have a 14-year-old boy named glenn. and even though i'm a police chief with over 27 years of experience, i know that when i teach my son glenn how to drive, i must also teach him what to do when stopped by the police. a mandatory course by the way for young men of color in this country. as i end my testimony today i want to thank you, mr. chairman, and the rest of the senators for your leadership. as much as i was honored to be here today, as honored as i was to be here 10 years ago, 12 years ago, i hope there is no need for me to come back in another ten years. >> thank you, chief davis. since september 7, 2001, anthony romero has been executive director of the american civil

liberties union, the largest civil liberties organization with over 500 members. he co-authored "in defense of our america the fight for civil liberties in the age of terror." he graduated from stanford university law school and princeton university's woodrow wilson school of policy and international affairs. please proceed. >> good morning, senator durbin and ranking member graham. senator franken, senator blumenthal, i'm delighted to testify before you today. i am the national director of the american civil liberties union. we are a nonpartisan organization with over half a million members, hundreds of thousands of additional activists and supporters, and 53 state offices nationwide dedicated to the principles of equality and justice set forth in the u.s. constitution and in our laws protecting individual rights. for decades the aclu has been at the forefront of all forms of racial profiling.

racial profiling is policing based on crass stereotypes instead of facts, evidence and good police work. racial profiling fuels fear and mistrust between law enforcement and the very communities they are supposed to protect. racial profiling is not only ineffective, it is also unconstitutional and violates basic norms of human rights both at home and abroad. my testimony lays out how race, religion, national origin are used as proxies for suspicion in three key areas of national security, of routine law enforcement and immigration. in the context of national security, recently released fbi documents demonstrate how the fbi targets innocent americans based on race, ethnicity, religion, national origin, and first amendment protected pol e political activities.

since such counterproductive activities waste law enforcement resources, damage essential relationships with those communities and encourage racial profiling at the state and local level. in my native new york, the new york police department has targeted muslim new yorkers for intrusive surveillance without any suspicion of criminal activity. according to a series of associated press articles, the new york police department dispatched undercover police officers into muslim communities to monitor daily life in bookstores, cafes, nightclubs, and even infiltrated muslim student organizations in colleges and universities such as columbia and yale university. when we tolerate this type of racial profiling in the guise of promoting national security, we jeopardize public safety and undermine the basic ideals set forth in our constitution. in the context of routine law enforcement, policing based on stereotypes remains an

entrenched practice in routine law enforcement across the country. the tragic story of trayvon martin garnered national attention and raised questions about the role of race in the criminal justice system. while we don't yet know how this heartbreaking story will end, we do know that stereotypes played a role in this tragedy and yet they have no place in law enforcement. racial profiling undermines the trust and mutual respect between police and the communities they are there to protect, which is critical to keeping communities safe. additionally, profiling deepens racial divisions in america and conveys a larger message that some citizens do not deserve equal protection under the law. in the context of immigration, racial profiling is exploding. state intrusion to federal immigration authority has created a legal regimen in which people are stopped based on their race and ethnicity for

inquiry into their immigration status. the department of justice needs to continue to expand response to these state laws using probust civil rights protections. additionally, congress must defund the department of homeland security 287-g in secure community programs which promote racial profiling by turning state and local law enforcement officials into immigration agents. when police officers not trained in immigration law are asked to enforce the nation's immigration laws, they routinely resort to racial stereotypes about who looks or sounds foreign. but you can't tell by looking or listening to someone about whether or not they're in the u.s. lawfully. in order to achieve comprehensive reform, congress needs to provide law enforcement with the tools needed to engage in effective policing. we need to pass the end racial profiling act which would prohibit racial profiling once and for all. and we should urge the administration to strengthen the

department of justice guidance using the use of race by federal law enforcement agencies to address profiling by religion and national origin and to close loopholes for the border and national security. in america 2012 and beyond, policing based on stereotypes must not be part of the national landscape. law enforcement officers must base their decisions on facts in evidence, otherwise, america's rights and liberties are unnecessarily discarded and individuals are left to deal with life-long circumstances of such intrusion. on behalf of the aclu i wish to thank each of you for your leadership on this critical issue. i also would like to thank you, chairman durbin, in particular to partner with our illinois office to address the issue of profiling. i look forward to working with you in the years ahead. >> thank you, mr. romero. frank gale served for 23 years in the denver county sheriff's department where he had