S.F. traffic stops show racial disparities
Blacks, Hispanics much more likely to be searched
Susan Sward, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 8, 2002
©2002 San Francisco Chronicle
URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/05/08/MN244174.DTL
Blacks and Hispanics face a much greater chance than whites of being searched when they are stopped by San Francisco police officers, department figures show.
In a city known for its tolerance, African Americans are 3.5 times more likely than whites to be searched when stopped, and Hispanics are almost three times as likely to be searched.
Those are some of the findings in the Police Department's first look at the race of motorists stopped by police in San Francisco.
Police Chief Fred Lau acknowledged the data but said, "It's not the result of racial profiling. There are a lot of sociological factors involved, and it's a complicated issue.
"Our command staff is well represented by minorities and women, and racial profiling will not be tolerated," Lau said. "In San Francisco, citizens also can voice any concerns they have through the Office of Citizen Complaints, and I have also asked my officers to report back to me community sentiments about racial profiling."
The American Civil Liberties Union expressed concern about the data.
"The most troubling thing is the disparate search rates. That raises a real red flag," said Mark Schlosberg, an ACLU attorney specializing in police practices. When a person is stopped, "how the officer interacts with that person should have nothing to do with race."
SIMILAR FINDINGS ACROSS STATE
San Francisco's study comes after other examinations of metropolitan police departments in the state, including San Jose and Oakland, that also found racial groups were treated differently.
Steve Lutes, the department's longtime civilian analyst, looked at San Francisco's traffic stops from last summer through March. Last week, he shared with The Chronicle a summary of stops between July and September 2001, which he said generally reflected the trends he found:
-- Blacks are stopped at a rate almost twice their representation in the population. Although blacks make up 7.9 percent of San Francisco's 766,733 population, according to Census figures, they make up almost 15 percent of traffic stops by department officers.
-- Asians and Hispanics get stopped by police fewer times than their numbers in the city might indicate. With almost 31 percent of the population, Asians account for 17.8 percent of stops. Hispanics make up 14 percent of San Franciscans and 11.76 percent of stops. Whites, who constitute 44 percent of the population, make up 47.33 percent of traffic stops.
-- When motorists are stopped, searches are conducted on 13.71 percent of blacks, 11.3 percent of Hispanics, 3.94 percent of whites, and 1.68 percent of Asians.
-- Blacks are the least likely of any racial group in the city to be stopped for a moving violation. Blacks have the greatest chance, however, of being stopped and cited for mechanical or other nonmoving violations such as failure to have proper car registration tags.
-- Once motorists are stopped, an average of 2.88 percent of them end up being arrested for some violation. When blacks are stopped, 4.52 percent are arrested. Hispanics also exceed the average -- with 3.93 percent arrested after they are stopped. Only 2.62 percent of whites and 1.97 percent of Asians who are stopped are arrested.
FEWER DRIVERS, FEWER ARRESTS
Lutes, who has a doctorate in anthropology, said he believes that Asians and Hispanics are stopped less because they may drive cars less.
"Almost all whites and blacks grew up in the United States and are part of our car culture, but I suspect people who are recently arrived from outside the country may not own or drive cars at the same rate," he said.
Lutes said he is convinced that no systematic racial profiling exists in the department where 42 percent of officers are members of minority groups and 16 percent are female.
"I don't think this department would put up with it -- there's been a sea change within the department in the last 20 years as the department came more and more to look like the community it serves," Lutes said.
But he acknowledged that he findings pinpoint disparities in how different racial groups are stopped, searched and arrested.
"In a liberal, progressive city, why do you have these disparate numbers?" he asked. "These numbers seem to go beyond problems either with police or minority motorists -- reflecting multiple causes that are not that simple or easy to change," including unequal access to economic opportunities.
Lutes also noted that African Americans "are far more likely to be under some sort of court-supervised parole or probation conditions that tend to produce more searches."
"I can't say no officer has ever made a stop we might find objectionable," Lutes said. "But I think it would be very rare."
Lutes added that one uncertainty with his data is that there is no way of knowing how many of the motorists who are stopped are San Francisco residents and how many are commuters or visitors.
DISAGREEMENT ON RACE AS FACTOR
Schlosberg of the ACLU said he hopes to work with the department to strengthen its policy regarding racial profiling.
"The department's policy now only prohibits actions based solely on race, and very few officers do anything solely for one reason," he said. "The policy needs to be changed to prohibit use of race to any degree in determining who to stop, search and arrest except if there is a specific subject description broadcast in connection with a crime."
Inspector Sherman Ackerson, speaking for the Police Department, said his agency "clearly forbids stopping anyone solely due to race, but sometimes when looking at Asian, black or Hispanic gangs or skinheads, for example, race is a factor officers have to consider before stopping someone."
San Francisco's study of its traffic stop patterns comes after similar studies of other police agencies in the state.
In San Jose's latest survey -- December 2000 -- the department concluded that although blacks and Hispanics were stopped at slightly greater rates than their overall representation in the population, there were no grounds to conclude racial profiling was occurring in San Jose.
The department concluded that the racial differences in its data may be partly because of the fact that there tend to be more calls for police help in areas where minorities are concentrated -- prompting a higher number of officers in those areas who would be making traffic stops in their free time.
In Oakland, a traffic stop study is under way involving the Police Department, Rand, the NAACP and the ACLU.
The ACLU reported last year that African American motorists were three times more likely to be searched or be the subject of a traffic stops in Oakland than whites. Department spokesman George Phillips said the ACLU's announcement reflects only the first phase of a more comprehensive study "and without including the second phase, any finding is premature."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E-mail Susan Sward at [email protected].
Blacks, Hispanics much more likely to be searched
Susan Sward, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 8, 2002
©2002 San Francisco Chronicle
URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/05/08/MN244174.DTL
Blacks and Hispanics face a much greater chance than whites of being searched when they are stopped by San Francisco police officers, department figures show.
In a city known for its tolerance, African Americans are 3.5 times more likely than whites to be searched when stopped, and Hispanics are almost three times as likely to be searched.
Those are some of the findings in the Police Department's first look at the race of motorists stopped by police in San Francisco.
Police Chief Fred Lau acknowledged the data but said, "It's not the result of racial profiling. There are a lot of sociological factors involved, and it's a complicated issue.
"Our command staff is well represented by minorities and women, and racial profiling will not be tolerated," Lau said. "In San Francisco, citizens also can voice any concerns they have through the Office of Citizen Complaints, and I have also asked my officers to report back to me community sentiments about racial profiling."
The American Civil Liberties Union expressed concern about the data.
"The most troubling thing is the disparate search rates. That raises a real red flag," said Mark Schlosberg, an ACLU attorney specializing in police practices. When a person is stopped, "how the officer interacts with that person should have nothing to do with race."
SIMILAR FINDINGS ACROSS STATE
San Francisco's study comes after other examinations of metropolitan police departments in the state, including San Jose and Oakland, that also found racial groups were treated differently.
Steve Lutes, the department's longtime civilian analyst, looked at San Francisco's traffic stops from last summer through March. Last week, he shared with The Chronicle a summary of stops between July and September 2001, which he said generally reflected the trends he found:
-- Blacks are stopped at a rate almost twice their representation in the population. Although blacks make up 7.9 percent of San Francisco's 766,733 population, according to Census figures, they make up almost 15 percent of traffic stops by department officers.
-- Asians and Hispanics get stopped by police fewer times than their numbers in the city might indicate. With almost 31 percent of the population, Asians account for 17.8 percent of stops. Hispanics make up 14 percent of San Franciscans and 11.76 percent of stops. Whites, who constitute 44 percent of the population, make up 47.33 percent of traffic stops.
-- When motorists are stopped, searches are conducted on 13.71 percent of blacks, 11.3 percent of Hispanics, 3.94 percent of whites, and 1.68 percent of Asians.
-- Blacks are the least likely of any racial group in the city to be stopped for a moving violation. Blacks have the greatest chance, however, of being stopped and cited for mechanical or other nonmoving violations such as failure to have proper car registration tags.
-- Once motorists are stopped, an average of 2.88 percent of them end up being arrested for some violation. When blacks are stopped, 4.52 percent are arrested. Hispanics also exceed the average -- with 3.93 percent arrested after they are stopped. Only 2.62 percent of whites and 1.97 percent of Asians who are stopped are arrested.
FEWER DRIVERS, FEWER ARRESTS
Lutes, who has a doctorate in anthropology, said he believes that Asians and Hispanics are stopped less because they may drive cars less.
"Almost all whites and blacks grew up in the United States and are part of our car culture, but I suspect people who are recently arrived from outside the country may not own or drive cars at the same rate," he said.
Lutes said he is convinced that no systematic racial profiling exists in the department where 42 percent of officers are members of minority groups and 16 percent are female.
"I don't think this department would put up with it -- there's been a sea change within the department in the last 20 years as the department came more and more to look like the community it serves," Lutes said.
But he acknowledged that he findings pinpoint disparities in how different racial groups are stopped, searched and arrested.
"In a liberal, progressive city, why do you have these disparate numbers?" he asked. "These numbers seem to go beyond problems either with police or minority motorists -- reflecting multiple causes that are not that simple or easy to change," including unequal access to economic opportunities.
Lutes also noted that African Americans "are far more likely to be under some sort of court-supervised parole or probation conditions that tend to produce more searches."
"I can't say no officer has ever made a stop we might find objectionable," Lutes said. "But I think it would be very rare."
Lutes added that one uncertainty with his data is that there is no way of knowing how many of the motorists who are stopped are San Francisco residents and how many are commuters or visitors.
DISAGREEMENT ON RACE AS FACTOR
Schlosberg of the ACLU said he hopes to work with the department to strengthen its policy regarding racial profiling.
"The department's policy now only prohibits actions based solely on race, and very few officers do anything solely for one reason," he said. "The policy needs to be changed to prohibit use of race to any degree in determining who to stop, search and arrest except if there is a specific subject description broadcast in connection with a crime."
Inspector Sherman Ackerson, speaking for the Police Department, said his agency "clearly forbids stopping anyone solely due to race, but sometimes when looking at Asian, black or Hispanic gangs or skinheads, for example, race is a factor officers have to consider before stopping someone."
San Francisco's study of its traffic stop patterns comes after similar studies of other police agencies in the state.
In San Jose's latest survey -- December 2000 -- the department concluded that although blacks and Hispanics were stopped at slightly greater rates than their overall representation in the population, there were no grounds to conclude racial profiling was occurring in San Jose.
The department concluded that the racial differences in its data may be partly because of the fact that there tend to be more calls for police help in areas where minorities are concentrated -- prompting a higher number of officers in those areas who would be making traffic stops in their free time.
In Oakland, a traffic stop study is under way involving the Police Department, Rand, the NAACP and the ACLU.
The ACLU reported last year that African American motorists were three times more likely to be searched or be the subject of a traffic stops in Oakland than whites. Department spokesman George Phillips said the ACLU's announcement reflects only the first phase of a more comprehensive study "and without including the second phase, any finding is premature."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E-mail Susan Sward at [email protected].
