Police racial profiling data is revealing, but it’s nothing new for a 1970s victim | Opinion
Rarely is it pleasant to get stopped by law enforcement. Yes, I admit to getting two speeding tickets in one day in the 1980s, but I paid heavily for those blunders.
The officers — CHP on the first stop, Dublin police on the second — were courteous and did their job against a lead-footed motorist. It was a far cry from a few years earlier when I got stopped on my way home at midnight in Bakersfield after finishing a night shift as a sports reporter.
While driving down Chester Avenue to catch the crosstown freeway, I was followed closely by a Bakersfield police officer. No problem; I made sure to maintain the speed limit and fully stop at red traffic lights.
The officer maneuvered his car around me and immediately moved into my lane. No problem, until the flashing red lights came on and I got pulled over. The offense: Tailgating.
I expected a citation that I would fight. Instead, the officer shined his flashlight inside the car and asked if I had a gun or knife under the seat. That’s when I realized this wasn’t a typical traffic stop.
After giving the officer my driver’s license and insurance information, I was startled by his question: “Do you have any bombs or grenades in your trunk?”
“No.”
When the officer ran a warrant check on me, some coworkers still at the office heard my name come up on the police scanner. The officer noticed a bicyclist without a lamp and waved me away while he tended to the two-wheeled culprit.
By the time I got home, I realized I had been racially profiled. My hair back then was long and curly and I drove a 1972 Chevy Impala that was popular among lowriders. Friends of mine were regularly stopped by police based on the color of their skin.
California didn’t have the Racial and Identity Profiling Act back then. It wasn’t until 2015 that Gov. Jerry Brown signed the bill designed to cut back on racial profiling by law enforcement agencies. It was no surprise that groups representing police, sheriffs, the CHP and prison guards lobbied heavily against the bill, authored by then-Assemblymember Shirley Weber.
The law requires law enforcement agencies to provide detailed stop data to the Department of Justice. The act bans officers from asking individuals to self-identify for the purpose of data collection.
“One of our best defenses is information about who is stopped by police and why. Currently, information on these individuals isn’t provided publicly in a comprehensive way,” Weber, who is now California’s Secretary of State, said in 2015 while pushing the legislation. “The goal of AB 953 is to rectify this so we can make policies with the best information possible.”
Racial profiling is bad, especially when those who serve to protect us are the culprits.
What the data tells us
The 2025 RIPA report, which was released this month, analyzed more than 4.7 million stops and 14,444 civilian complaints reported by 539 law enforcement agencies in 2023. Racial and identity profiling persists.
The report placed an emphasis on police interactions with young people; it found that Blacks and Latinos were more likely to be stopped by police than other racial demographics. Blacks, who make up 5% of the population, accounted for 12% of police stops. Latinos, who represent about 30% of state residents, accounted for 43% of police stops.
I’m sure the data was much worse in the 1970s when I was stopped in Bakersfield.
Andrea Guerrero, executive director of Alliance San Diego, called the racial disparities “alarming.”
“Young Californians who are driving, biking, and walking and perceived to be Black or brown are regularly stopped, asked to consent to a search, handcuffed, sat on the curb, put in a police car, and questioned for information that is recorded on a field interview card before being released,” said Guerrero in a statement.
“This is California’s version of stop and frisk that causes immeasurable harm to the community and erodes trust in law enforcement from a young age.”
The results for Central Valley law enforcement agencies were revealing.
▪ White residents made up 24% of stops by Fresno police and Asian individuals made up 4%, though they make up 38% and 14% of the population in the city.
▪ Merced police conducted 3,510 traffic/pedestrian stops in 2023. That was a drop of 16% from the previous year, but resulted in what appears to be more scrutiny of Black and Latino residents.
▪ The Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office stopped Blacks at three times higher than their population.
The data is important for our elected officials and law enforcement agencies to recognize that racial profiling exists and to look for solutions.
Looking back on that evening in Bakersfield, I’m thankful I was allowed to drive home. However, I’m still angry that I was profiled and still worry that even a traffic stop for speeding could turn into something much worse for me.
This story was originally published January 27, 2025 at 5:30 AM.