Assembly Bill (AB) 953 enacted The Racial and Identity Profiling Act of 2015 (RIPA) into law which, among other things, requires each California law enforcement agency (LEA) employing peace officers to annually report their stop data to the Attorney General. As defined in the regulations guiding RIPA Stop Data collection, a "stop" is any detention by a peace officer of a person or any peace officer interaction with a person in which the officer conducts a search. This data include both pedestrian and vehicle stops.
 
The data elements are statutorily mandated by the regulations underlying RIPA and include person-level and stop-level information (e.g., actions taken, reason for stop). Officers are required to record their perception of the identity characteristics pertaining to each stopped person, including their; race or ethnicity, gender, approximate age, lesbian, gay bisexual or transgender (LGBT) status, English fluency, and disability. Officers are prohibited from asking the person stopped to self-identify these characteristics. Consequently, officer perceptions of identity characteristics may differ from how an individual self-identifies.
 
AB 953 requires an agency that employs one or more but less than 334 peace officers to issue its first annual report by April 1, 2023. The Sebastopol Police Department falls under this requirement. RIPA Stop Data can be found at  https://openjustice.doj.ca.gov/exploration/stop-data.