A lawsuit filed against the city of Beverly Hills accuses its police department of engaging in racial profiling. The suit alleges that the police have targeted Black individuals, including on-duty officers from neighboring cities. Two LAPD officers claim they were racially profiled while in uniform. One officer reported having a gun pulled on him during a traffic stop. Both officers were stopped for traffic violations.
The lawsuit, which was first filed in 2021, is now a class-action suit seeking $500 million in damages. Nationally recognized attorney Benjamin Crump, who represented the family of George Floyd, is representing the plaintiffs. The suit accuses the city of Beverly Hills and its police department of racially profiling Black individuals in and around the famous Rodeo Drive.
The original plaintiffs, Jasmine Williams and Khalil White, were arrested by Beverly Hills Police in 2020 for riding a scooter on a sidewalk. Williams and White, who were on vacation at the time, stated that the arrest was traumatizing. They were charged with two misdemeanors – riding a scooter on the sidewalk and resisting arrest. The lawsuit claims that the city has a history of discrimination against Black individuals.
Data provided by the city for a two-month period in 2020 showed that out of the 90 people arrested, 80 were Black, despite Black individuals making up only two percent of the city’s population. The lawsuit argues that this disproportionate number of arrests further supports the claim of racial profiling.
Attorney Bradley Gage, who is representing the plaintiffs alongside Benjamin Crump, emphasized that if Black police officers are being racially profiled in Beverly Hills, it raises concerns for all Black individuals visiting the city.
