Data on Biased Traffic Stops
2022 RIPA Report
The following data comes from the recently published 2022 report from the Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory Board (RIPA). Access the full report here.
The data reflects that, compared to White individuals (4.6%), officers reported nearly 2.5 times more stops based on window obstruction violations for Hispanic/Latine(x) individuals (11.4%) and 1.9 times more for Black individuals (8.7%) (when excluding the California Highway Patrol from the data analysis).
In another example, Black and Hispanic/Latine(x) individuals were disproportionately stopped for two types of bicycle stops (lighting and biking equipment violations) as compared to White individuals.
Even with these new reforms and the public’s heightened consciousness about policing issues, there is more work to be done. Police killings of community members occurred at the same rate during the first four months of 2021 as they did in 2020. The organization Mapping Police Violence collected data on 1,100 police killings in 2020 and as of November 2, 2021, collected data on 978 police killings during the current year. As of November 2, 2021, there were only twelve days during the year when there were no police killings of civilians.
Relative to other groups, Black individuals had the lowest proportion of their stops reported as traffic violations (77.9%) and the highest proportion of their stops reported as reasonable suspicion (18.8%).
Consent searches
Over half of stops where officers conducted consent only searches of Black, Hispanic/Latine(x) and Middle Eastern/South Asian individuals were initiated in response to a traffic violation. Meanwhile, less than 30 percent of consent only searches of White individuals occurred during stops for traffic violations.
Quarterly Activity and Data Report from the San Francisco Police Department - Q3 2021
In the third quarter of 2021, the San Francisco Police Department reported making 6,690 traffic stops, conducting 1,332 searches. Of these numbers:
Blacks accounted for 22% of all stops but 32% of all searches
White accounted for 37% of stops but 33% of searches
SFPD stopped Blacks at 5x the rate as whites
SFPD searched Blacks at 8x the rate as whites
SFPD used force on Blacks at nearly 13x the rate as whites
