NBC 7’s Alexis Rivas takes a look at report showing racial dipartites in arrest data in San Diego County.
The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department is more likely to pull over a Black driver than a white one, according to analysis of traffic stop data by the ACLU of Southern California and Catalyst California, a racial justice advocacy group.
The groups analyzed 2019 data from four Southern California sheriff’s departments — San Diego, Riverside, Los Angeles and Sacramento — and found racial disparities in traffic stops for all four counties.
Read the full report here.
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In San Diego County, deputies were nearly twice as likely to stop Black drivers for a traffic violation compared to white drivers, according to the analysis. Data also shows Latinx or Hispanic drivers were less likely than white drivers to get pulled over.
When it comes to stopping someone for reasonable suspicion of a crime, Black people were targeted nearly four times as much as white people, and again, Latinx and Hispanic people were less likely to be stopped.
The authors of the report say all four sheriff’s departments waste thousands of hours and millions of dollars on racially biased stops. They believe those resources should be shifted to other places, like mobile crisis units.
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The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department shared the following statement with NBC 7:
"The San Diego County Sheriff's Department is dedicated to building a culture of trust with the diverse communities we serve. We do not condone nor accept any racial profiling. We routinely review our policies and procedures. We also engage in listening, building and maintaining collaborative relationships to develop best practices that will provide the highest level of service to all members of the community."
NBC 7 also received responses from the sheriff's departments in LA and Riverside counties. We are still waiting to hear back from the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department.
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
"We are unfamiliar with the report, but on the surface, it appears to be the same manner of “defund the police” social engineering which has led to the current high violent crime rates. We believe the opinions expressed in this report are contradictory to reality."
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco
“There is no longer anything legitimate to the ACLU. They are nothing but a legal arm of a far left anti-law enforcement agenda. Every legitimate statistician knows the data is completely flawed, arguably by design, with input from the ACLU. The ACLU makes a habit of interpreting data to suit their agenda and their narrative. Members of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office respond to calls for service based on a proven priority based system. We take our response times very seriously. We are a very diverse department, proudly serving a very diverse community, and the safety of our residents is always our top priority.”
