LOS ANGELES - The city of Los Angeles is on the cusp of commissioning a report to analyze data collected each time an officer stops a pedestrian or searches a driver to help determine whether the LAPD engages in racial profiling. But the report will not look at the race or ethnicity of motorists who are stopped and therefore it will not consider the phenomenon of "Driving While Black/Brown."

An analysis of pedestrian stops cannot substitute for motor vehicle stops since officers stop motorists far more often than pedestrians and the perception of racial profiling is most often linked to harassing stops of minority drivers. Unless it changes the methodology for analysis, the report could be meaningless and may not help allay community concerns, especially among African Americans and Latinos, the ACLU of Southern California says.

"A string of events has raised the tide of concern and opposition about police practices in Los Angeles, but it comes at a time when the police department claims to be looking internally at its practices," said Ricardo Garcia, criminal justice director at the ACLU of Southern California. "The LAPD must use the opportunity not to patronize the community, but to begin a cultural shift on the force."

Community leaders are calling on the city to use the analysis to make changes in the attitude and culture of the LAPD.

"Until the community is involved, the report will only go so far in suggesting substantive redress," said Rev. Lewis Logan, pastor at Bethel AME in South Los Angeles. "The community must be vigilant and take advantage of the moment in order to both expose this egregious practice and effect systemic change. We cannot look at ourselves as victims but must seize the opportunity to empower ourselves through sustained and strategic direct action."

In 2000 the U.S. Department of Justice and the city of Los Angeles entered into a binding Civil Rights Consent Decree that requires collection of data each time a police officer stops someone in the city. U.S. District Court Judge Gary A. Feess who is overseeing the consent decree ordered the data must be analyzed. The LAPD-contracted Analysis Group, a relatively inexperienced firm in analyzing police data, plans to release a report on its findings in about six months. However, flawed methodology threatens to render the study meaningless.

The Analysis Group's proposal for the pending racial profiling study omits analysis of stops of motorists and looks at pedestrian stops instead. The ACLU of Southern California is calling for a revised methodology that:

'Does not use the analysis of pedestrian stops as a substitute for automobile stops. Data related to motor vehicle stops will better illustrate how officers interact with the community.

'First compiles general demographics about drivers in Los Angeles.

'Does not rely heavily on comparing officers in the analysis of the data. Comparing officers will not shed any light on the institutional practices.

SACRAMENTO - The ACLU, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse support legislation introduced by Senator Joe Simitian of Northern California that would prohibit identity documents issued by the state, including driver's licenses and library cards, from containing a microchip that contains personal information.

"This is all about individual privacy, personal safety and financial security," said Senator Joe Simitian. "SB 682 ensures that state and local government will be part of the solution, not part of the problem."

The legislation was introduced days after a company in Sutter, California withdrew its pilot program from an elementary school amidst parents' concerns that their children were tagged like inventory. The school district introduced the mandatory use of Radio Frequency Identification tags (RFIDs) to track students' movements. The students were required to wear ID badges that included the device along with the student's name, photo, grade, school name, class year and the four-digit school ID number without parents' consent.

"We fully support this legislation that will protect families throughout California from having to go through what we did - seeing our children tagged like inventory or cattle," said Jeffrey and Michele Tatro, parents of a Sutter elementary student who had to wear the mandatory RFID.

The Identity Information Protection Act of 2005 (SB 682), would prohibit any identity document created by the state, county, or municipal government, from containing a "contactless integrated circuit" or any other device that can broadcast an individual's name, address, telephone number, date of birth, race, religion, ethnicity, nationality, photograph, fingerprint, social security number and any other unique personal identifier or number.

"The signals broadcast by this type of badge can be picked up by anyone with the technology to read it, which allows a child's identity and location to be pinpointed with ease. This does not increase security, it lessens it," said Pam Noles, a policy associate for the ACLU of Southern California. "In Sutter, these badges compromised the safety of the elementary school students and parents weren't even given the option to consent to their use."

Beth Givens, executive director of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse in San Diego, added: "Senator Simitian's bill provides vital protection for all Californians. Individuals who are required to carry government issued IDs should not be put in a situation where that document enables them to be monitored and tracked."

LOS ANGELES - In a letter to Sheriff Lee Baca and the L.A. County Board of Supervisors, the ACLU of Southern California sought assurance that a county jail budget increase will end the practice of forcing inmates to sleep on the floor.

The Board of Supervisors allocated an additional $24.4 million to the jail coffers last December with the intent to reopen jail beds and curb the early release of inmates. Sheriff Baca says he will reopen 760 beds in March and 400 beds in May. Currently about 650 inmates at the seven county facilities sleep on the floor each night. The county must provide each inmate with a bed after one night on the floor.

"Right now conditions are so poor, especially at decrepit facilities like Men's Central Jail, that they create a public health risk for deputies, inmates and the community. More beds are essential to accommodate the existing inmate population," said Jody Kent, Jails Project Coordinator for the ACLU.

Overcrowding in the jails augments tension among inmates and facilitates the spread of staph and other infectious diseases making it an unhealthy work environment and a danger to all of Los Angeles. It is also in direct violation of the court order Rutherford v. Block.

"The county's legal obligation is to get inmates off the floor after 24 hours and it is not meeting this requirement," said Ricardo Garcia, Criminal Justice Director for the ACLU of Southern California. "We expect these funds will help do that."