Who do Fresno police pull over and why? Here’s what California data records show
Fresno police made nearly 20,000 stops of drivers and pedestrians, according to the most recently released data, and those actions are most glaringly disproportionate among residents of color.
Data released this month under the Racial and Identity Profiling Act of 2015 shows Black residents made up 11% of stops initiated by police in 2023, though they were 6.7% of Fresno’s population.
The state Department of Justice’s data was recorded by the officers’ perception of each person’s race and gender, and not by how each person identifies one’s self, the report says.
The California Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory Board’s annual report analyzed 4.7 million police stops conducted in 2023. The report highlights persistent disparities in stops based on perceived race, age and disability, as well as the long-term impact of early law enforcement interactions on young people.
“The annual collection of RIPA stop data is one part of our broader effort to increase public safety for all Californians. Through the analysis of stop data and recommendations for thoughtful reforms, we’re continuing to strengthen trust between local law enforcement and the communities they serve,” Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a press release.
Here’s what the data revealed for the Fresno Police Department.
Race and ethnicity
The majority of residents stopped by officers — 53% —were perceived to be Hispanic or Latino, a proportion slightly higher than their population size. The U.S. Census said Latinos made up half of the Fresno population in 2023.
While Black drivers and pedestrians were stopped at nearly twice the rate as their population in town, white and Asian residents were less likely to be stopped.
White residents made up 24% of stops and Asian individuals made up 4%, though they make up 38% and 14% of the population in Fresno.
Additionally, 5% of those stopped were perceived to have limited or no English fluency.
Gender and sexuality
RIPA regulations recognize six gender categories: male, female, transgender man, transgender woman, gender nonconforming and multigender. The majority of people stopped were perceived as cisgender male (62%) or cisgender female (37%). Those identified by Fresno police as fitting any other category accounted for less than 1% of all stops.
The report notes LGBT identity is not always immediately visible, meaning an officer’s perception of how a person identifies could be influenced by contextual factors.
Age groups
The largest proportion of residents stopped were perceived to be between the ages of 24 and 34, making up roughly 33% of stops. Drivers and pedestrians stopped in the 18-24 and 35-40 ranges each made up about 21% of the stops.
The chart also shows 97 K-12 students were stopped on school grounds, and 68 were stopped on the street.
Reason for stop
The policing act regulations mandate officers report the primary reason for initiating each stop. If multiple factors apply, officers must identify the main reason for the stop.
The most frequent reason for a stop was a traffic violation (92%), which can include moving and non-moving violations.
Result of stop and action taken
The overwhelming majority of stops resulted in a citation at 73.3% while 11.7% of residents were given a written or verbal warning, the report says. Approximately 3% of stops led to no official action.
“The higher percentages of stops with no action taken could indicate those stopped individuals were not engaged in criminal activity, and, perhaps, they are a sign of police intrusion that yielded nothing, demonstrating that the stops should not have occurred at all,” the RIPA report said.
The average duration of a stop was 15.3 minutes, the report notes. White pedestrians and drivers averaged slightly shorter stops at 14.95 minutes, while Black residents waited 20.75 minutes and Hispanic residents waited 18.8 minutes.
Black residents had the highest percentage of stops that resulted in no action taken by the officer, at 4.6%, relative to their total number of stops.
This story was originally published January 21, 2025 at 2:11 PM.
