Black motorists are twice as likely to be pulled over by Sacramento police as nonblack drivers, according to a report analyzing the Police Department's traffic stops.
The report, released to the city's Community Racial Profiling Commission late Thursday, also said black and Latino motorists were asked to get out of their vehicles at a higher rate than Asian and white drivers.
Black and Latino motorists, however, were no more likely to be cited than drivers of other races.
Latino drivers "were patted down at a significantly higher rate than would be expected," the report states.
The report will be posted on the city's Web site at 9 a.m. today and presented to the City Council on Tuesday. Three community meetings have been scheduled next week to address the findings.
"I'm not convinced we have the trust and respect of the entire community," Police Chief Rick Braziel said in an interview.
"It's real simple," the chief said earlier, during a meeting with the commission at police headquarters. "We, as an organization, we're very, very concerned about these numbers. We have some issues we need to work on."
Community Racial Profiling Commission Chair Crystal Taylor told Braziel the report would provide "a feeling of vindication" to the city's black community.
"The African American community has felt like this has been going on for quite some time," she said.
Taylor told Braziel that city officials and the Police Department should expect an emotional reaction to the report, but that "we all want a positive outcome, we all want positive change."
Braziel said that while the report is "a valid study," it did not go far enough in recommending what the Police Department should do to rectify the concerns. That process, he said, would begin immediately within the department.
"This is what's going on out there," he said. "Now there's the 'why' question."
Lamberth Consulting, a firm that specializes in racial profiling studies, analyzed traffic stops by city police officers from December 2007 to May of this year. The study looked at traffic stops conducted at 55 locations within the city.
Unlike prior studies, this one based the findings on the number of drivers observed on city streets – not census data.
It found that "blacks are overstopped" compared with Latino, Asian and white drivers.
That pattern was driven by regular patrol officers, who stopped black motorists 2.7 times more than should have been expected, according to the report. While beat cops made 54 percent of the stops during the study, they accounted for nearly 64 percent of black drivers who were pulled over.
The report also explained that specialty units – those that generally respond to specific crimes – stopped black drivers 2.3 times more than would be expected. The report noted, however, that 58 percent of suspects were described to police as black.
Braziel said the issues in the report could be a result of "cultural issues" within the department or pressure from police supervisors placed on cops to generate arrests. He said he would analyze the department's training and educational programs on racial profiling.
The chief also said he would conduct a series of town hall- style meetings with his officers and prepare a videotaped statement to show at the department's roll call today.
The report recommended the Police Department re-evaluate its racial-profiling policies, continue to collect data on traffic stops, provide refresher courses to officers on department policy and conduct a series of meetings with the community.
Call The Bee's Ryan Lillis, (916) 321-1085.
