New Data Show Racial Disparities In Local Law Enforcement Stops

New state data show that Black people were stopped by Los Angeles police and sheriff’s deputies at a higher rate disproportionate to their population size.

The report by California’s Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory Board found that Black people make up around 8% of the population in Los Angeles city and county, but accounted for around 23.5% of stops by the LAPD in 2022 and 17.6% of stops by the sheriff’s department in 2023.

Orange County data available for 2022 show white people were stopped 47.8% of the time, even though they made up 38.5% of the population. But Black people, who only account for 2.2% of the county’s population, made up 4.3% of stops.

The report is the first time the state board has compiled stop data from law enforcement agencies across California, and on the state level, the disparities continued.

According to the report, Black people were stopped more frequently statewide — 12.4% of the time despite accounting for just 5.4% of the population.

The report also found that Black people were searched at a rate 1.66 times higher than white people.

Latinx people also accounted for more than 40% of stops despite accounting for just over 32% of California’s population, the report found.

“The scale of data that California is collecting allows us to say definitively that profiling exists — it is a pervasive pattern across the state,” said Andrea Guerrero, co-chair of the RIPA Board and executive director of Alliance San Diego, a community organization.

LAPD and LASD did not immediately respond to requests for comment. But a joint statement from the L.A., San Jose, and San Francisco police unions called the RIPA report "intellectually dishonest."

"This latest RIPA report takes the easy way out by relying on a dizzying number of charts, figures and statistics instead of presenting a serious public policy analysis," the unions said. "The reality is that law enforcement professionals target behavior and enforce the laws that are on the books."

"Simply put, if a driver has a car with out-of-date vehicle registration tags, a broken brake or headlight, or is driving recklessly or speeding, then they are most likely going to get pulled over," the unions added. "That is all about behavior and not race."

Profiling of students and those with disabilities

The state’s Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory Report also looked at police stops within and outside schools. Black students were stopped more than other groups, according to the report, and they were also handcuffed at a higher rate than other racial groups. It also found that people under the age of 25 with disabilities were disproportionately stopped.

In California, the report’s authors noted that school districts have more law enforcement officers than social workers, and more security guards than nurses on school campuses. Nineteen school districts in the state have their own police department, with the majority concentrated in Southern California, where most districts have large populations of students of color. Seven of them are in Los Angeles County and five in San Bernardino County. The L.A. County Sheriff’s Department also had 132 deputies assigned to K-12 schools in 2022.

Jerlene Tatum, an education advocate and parent, is running for a seat on the Long Beach Unified School Board after advocating for campus safety when an officer shot and killed a former student, 18-year-old Manuela "Mona" Rodriguez.

Tatum said the role of campus safety officers is unclear.

“Where does their jurisdiction lie? And what is their role?” she said.

While Tatum said she believes there is a need for law enforcement in certain instances, there is currently a disconnect in addressing why a student might turn to violence in the first place. That there are more law enforcement officers than social workers and nurses, she added, highlights how officials are “treating a symptom, not fixing the problem.”

She added that Long Beach Unified doesn't have enough counselors with case loads that are far too large .

“School counselors are a key to being able to connect students with appropriate resources," Tatum said. "Counselors are there designed to be able to ensure that teachers are able to work with their students who may have a need."

A representative for LBUSD said there are 146 counselors for more than 64,000 students across 84 schools in the district.

Addressing the disparities

The state board proposed ending pretextual stops and searches — where an officer can ask a person to pull over for a minor offense and then use that as a pretext to search them or their vehicle. On Jan. 1, a state law went into effect requiring officers to tell a person why they’re being stopped. The board also proposed limiting the role officers play in traffic enforcement.

Other recommendations from the report include adopting a “care-first” model reducing law enforcement intervention for youth experiencing disabilities or mental health crises. The board also proposed that district attorneys and agencies not pursue criminal charges for those who resist arrest if they do not have another citable offense.