Beverly Hills Police Racially Profiled, Targeted People Of Color, Says Class Action

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Racial Profiling Class Action Lawsuit Overview: 

• Who: Two Black protesters lodged a class action lawsuit against the City of Beverly Hills and Beverly Hills Police Department Captain Scott Dowling.
• Why: Williams and White claim the Beverly Hills Police Department targeted people of color during a months-long campaign called “Operation Safe Street.” 
• Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court. 

The Beverly Hills Police Department racially profiled and targeted people of color during a months-long law enforcement campaign, a new class action lawsuit alleges. 

Lead plaintiffs Jasmine Williams and Khalil White, who are both Black, claim the city arrested 106 people — 105 African Americans and one Latino — during the campaign named “Operation Safe Street.” 

Beverly Hills Police Operation Featured Racial Profiling

People of color were arrested without probable cause during the campaign while engaging in seemingly harmless acts such as driving or rollerblading, according to the class action lawsuit. 

Williams and White claim they were falsely arrested on “multiple fabricated charges,” while riding scooters in Beverly Hills and “protesting the unlawful detention and citing the continuous racial targeting of individuals of color,” in September 2020. 

Prosecutors would later decline to press charges against the plaintiffs, according to the class action lawsuit. 

The class action lawsuit also names Beverly Hills Police Department Captain Scott Dowling, who oversaw the campaign — also known as the “Rodeo Drive Task Force” — from March 1, 2020 to July 1, 2021.

Dowling called Black people “lazy,” and laughed at a racially-charged video made by Beverly Hills police officers in 2015 called “Yellow Fever With Soul,” the class action lawsuit alleges.

Marc Coopwood, Dowling’s assistant chief, tenured his resignation on Tuesday. 

Plaintiffs are seeking unspecified damages. 

Sheriff’s officers in Maricopa County, Arizona were on the receiving end of a class action lawsuit in 2015 that alleged they conducted illegal traffic stops to check immigration status under the direction of then-Sheriff Joe Arpaio. 

Do you believe you have been racially profiled by Beverly Hills police officers? Let us know in the comments! 

The plaintiffs are represented by Ben Crump and Bradley C. Gage.

The Racial Profiling Class Action Lawsuit is Williams, et al. v. Beverly Hills, et al., Case No. unknown, in Los Angeles Superior Court.

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