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BEVERLY HILLS (CNS) - The city of Beverly Hills Friday denied new allegations of racial bias among police officers cracking down on crime in the expensive enclave.
The statement came in response to a press conference held by attorneys Benjamin Crump and Bradley Gage, who announced that two Los Angeles Police Department officers had made allegations that they were racially profiled while driving in the city.
The attorneys filed a proposed class-action suit two years ago challenging the Beverly Hills Police Department's stop, search and arrest practices as racially discriminatory.
The civil rights complaint asserts that arrests in Beverly Hills from Aug. 30, 2019 through Aug. 30, 2021 disproportionately, and intentionally targeted Black people. The plaintiffs allege that rates of arrest far outstripped the proportion of Black people in the city and state, including one two-month period in which 90% of people arrested in Beverly Hills were Black, even though the city is only 1.95% Black.
"The city of Beverly Hills continues to vigorously defend this case and denies the characterizations of the facts and evidence presented today," according to the city of Beverly Hills. "Beverly Hills is an international destination that welcomes visitors from across the country and around the world. The role of the Beverly Hills Police Department is to enforce the law, regardless of race. The city looks forward to presenting its case in court."
The 2021 lawsuit was brought by Jasmine Williams and Khalil White, a Philadelphia couple who were arrested by Beverly Hills police during a visit in September 2020, according to the complaint now pending in Los Angeles federal court.
The couple were riding a scooter together at the time of the arrest, allegedly on the sidewalk, which is against a city ordinance. Prosecutors declined to file charges against the pair, the suit states.
In what could lead to an expansion of the suit, Gage said Friday that two Black LAPD officers have come forward to allege they were pulled over while driving unmarked cars by Beverly Hills police for no legitimate reason. Further information was not immediately available.