On Wednesday, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed the CAREN Act with a unanimous vote. The law, which would be one of the first of its kind in the country, would make it illegal for someone to call 911 under a false and racially charged pretense.
The official name of the law, Caution Against Racially and Exploitative Non-Emergencies, is a wordplay on the internet meme that ridicules the trope of a “Karen,” which is typically characterized as middle aged white women who complain about people of color, specifically Black people. In recent years, viral “Karens” have used their privilege against r as a weapon to report anything from a Black kid selling water without a permit to a Black man birdwatching.
First introduced in July, the CAREN Act is one step closer to becoming law. Next week, the bill has to be voted on a second time by 11 supervisors before being sent to San Francisco Mayor London Breed. If enacted, the law would allow people being reported to the police by “Karens” to sue the 911 caller in civil court if they felt the call was made with discriminatory intent.
Although there is an overall agreement around the bill’s positive impact, it has also been met with opposition. Several San Francisco residents wrote letters urging the board to consider renaming the bill, arguing it targets women named “Karen” and is therefore sexist.
The CAREN Act is similar in content to an already existent California bill, AB 1550, which makes it illegal for someone to call the police and “fabricate false racially biased emergency reports.”
White people who make false accusations and fabricate stories about being in danger while in the presence of Black and people of color is not a new phenomenon. False and racist 911 calls are demoralizing and have forced people of color into dangerous encounters with law enforcement.
