FILE - A California Highway Patrol officer stops a motorist who was suspected of speeding along Interstate 405 freeway on April 23, 2020, in Westminster, Calif. California law enforcement was more than twice as likely to use force against people they perceived as Black during vehicle and pedestrian stops in 2021, as compared to people believed to be white, according to a state report released Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023.
The data includes how officers perceive an individual’s race or gender, even if it’s different than how the person identifies, because the officer’s perception is what drives bias. The board’s work informs agencies, the state’s police office training board and state lawmakers as they change policies and seek to decrease racial disparities and bias in policing.
“The data show that racial and identity disparities persist year after year," the report said."The Board remains committed to analyzing and highlighting these disparities to compel evidence-driven strategies for reforming policing and eliminating racial and identity profiling in California.” Yet law enforcement officials reported taking no action most frequently after making stops of people they believed to be Black individuals, as compared to other racial and ethnic groups, “indicating those stopped Black individuals were not engaged in criminal activity,” the report said.
Police discriminating and harassing POC? No! I can’t believe it. I’m in utter shock… who could ever predicted this?!