A new law proposed by a lawmaker in California is aimed at stopping people from making racially motivated calls to the police.
It's been proposed by San Francisco Supervisor Shamann Walton, and is called the 'CAREN' act, which stands for Caution Against Racially Exploitative Non-Emergencies.
Recently there has been a large uptick in incidents during which white women call the police to make reports against people of colour who they claim have made them feel uncomfortable while they're going about their daily business.
These people have become known colloquially as 'Karens'.
Calls to police can put the subject of those frivolous 911 contacts in danger of arrest for a crime they haven't committed, or an interaction with the police that could otherwise have been avoided.
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Just recently, Amy Cooper called the police on a man who was birdwatching in a New York park because he'd asked her if she could put her dog onto a leash.
Then, closer to where the law is being proposed, Jennifer Schulte called the police when she saw two black men having a barbecue in a park.
A woman also threatened to call the cops on a man for stenciling 'Black Lives Matter' in chalk on his own house.
This new law aims to punish those who think they can use the police to intimidate people of colour who have done nothing wrong.
Walton argues that the proposed measures 'are part of a larger nationwide movement to address racial biases and implement consequences for weaponizing emergency resources with racist intentions'.
It's similar to a bill put forward by California State Assembly member Rob Bonta that calls for people who use law enforcement in a way that is biased towards people for their race, class, appearance, or religion.
Speaking about that piece of legislation, Bonta said: "This bill could protect millions of Californians from becoming targets of hate and prevent the weaponization of our law enforcement against communities of colour."
Let's hope that it makes a difference.
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