In the wake of an incident where a white woman called the police on an African-American man who'd asked her to put her dog on a leash, lawmakers are taking steps to make using the police as a racial weapon illegal.
Oregon and Washington have already passed laws that make calling the police when no crime has been committed illegal, especially when it's being used to harass people of "protected classes."
In New York, Assemblyman Felix Ortiz has authored a bill to add "hate crime enhancement" to an existing law that prohibits filing false police reports.
If approved, the new law would give a harsher sentence to the caller if the victim is injured or killed.
Similar bills are already in the works in New Jersey and Minnesota.