Racial Disparities in Law Enforcement Stops

By Magnus Lofstrom, Joseph Hayes, Brandon Martin, and Deepak Premkumar, with research support from Alexandria Gumbs

In this report, we analyze data for almost 4 million stops by California’s 15 largest law enforcement agencies in 2019, examining the extent to which people of color experience searches, enforcement, intrusiveness, and use of force differently from white people. While it is important to caution the reader that analysis of these differences is not causal, our analysis—which focuses in particular on differences between Black and white Californians—reveals notable differences.Black Californians are more than twice as likely to be searched as white Californians, at about 20 percent versus 8 percent of all stops. …hese disparities are driven primarily by traffic stops made by the 14 data-contributing police and sheriff departments (as compared with the California Highway Patrol). These findings can provide guidance for discussing which stops can safely be reduced to mitigate racial inequities, which may also reduce risks and injuries to both officers and civilians.

San Francisco, CA Public Policy Institute of California, 2021. 30p.