According to police data, Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office officers have used force against Black individuals since 2016, at a rate more than six times the population.
While Black people averaged 1.4% of the provincial population, they made up nearly 9.4% of the use of force cases reported by Stanislaus SO personnel over the past eight years.
In most years, use of force data for other racial or ethnic groups were close or below their population shares. In 2016, whites represented nearly 39% of use-of-force incidents, despite only making up about 36% of the population. Nearly half of the violent incidents involved Latin American people, but in 2021 they made up 55% of the population.
Black people were consistently overrepresented year after year.
Use of force is defined by the Sheriff’s Office as “the application of physical techniques or tactics, chemicals or weapons to another person.”
In 2018, violent incidents involving black individuals occurred more than thirteen times as often as their representation in the population. It was also the second lowest year for total use of force incidents.
When we compare use of force to arrests rather than population data, the disparity against black individuals remains, albeit smaller. On average, they represent 7.3% of arrests, compared to 9.4% of use of force cases.
These numbers reflect trends seen across the state and country.
In 2023, 658 people statewide were involved in incidents involving the discharge of a firearm or use of force, resulting in serious bodily injury or death. Black individuals were involved in 18.7% of these incidents – despite making up only 6.5% of California’s population.
Black Californians are about three times as likely to be seriously injured, shot or killed by police compared to their share of the state’s population, according to a report from the Public Policy Institute of California.
“These racial differences narrow after controlling for contextual factors (e.g., the reason for the interaction), but persist,” the report said.
Causes
The Sheriff’s Office attributed the disproportionate use of force to factors beyond race, citing socioeconomic background, type of neighborhood and cultural attitudes toward law enforcement.
“We need to have this conversation not just about race, but look at all the other factors as well,” said Sheriff Jeff Dirkse.
However, Blake Randol, an associate professor of criminal justice at Stanislaus State University, suggested that when law enforcement officers use force, it is typically due to three main factors.
The first is geographic location. “What we often see is a pattern, and the use of force by police tends to be more aggressive in certain areas where there is not only more crime but also more poverty,” he said.
Crime and low income often go hand in hand. According to the Stanislaus County Public Defender, more than 90% of the cases going through Stanislaus County criminal courts involve poor or low-income clients.
The second factor is what Randol described as “behavior,” or the attitude a person has toward law enforcement. He said low-income black communities in particular could have negative attitudes toward law enforcement.
“Behavior is an important factor that can predict the use of force by the police, so if the police officer encounters someone who has a negative attitude towards him, he might talk back more, maybe resist arrest, things like that. [police] are more likely to use violence,” Randol said.
The third most common factor is unconscious bias. Randol said this usually happens in a neighborhood or community where law enforcement can be hyper-vigilant. Or it can happen when they view an individual as a greater threat to them.
“Unconscious bias is a major problem in the United States, and there is … a systematic unconscious police bias against racial minorities, in particular, but also to a greater extent, African Americans,” Randol said.
He elaborated further by saying that “police will wrongly assume that African Americans in particular pose a greater threat to their immediate safety than someone of any other race.”
Randol discussed the use of force by law enforcement in general. But when asked specifically about the Sheriff’s Office use-of-force data compared to population data, he said the geographic factor may not play much of a role in explaining it.
“You’re talking about a very small minority of individuals living in a community that is predominantly Hispanic and white, and why do these individuals experience greater use of force than their white or Hispanic counterparts in this community?” he said. “I would say there is an inequality, a significant inequality. And I would say that if we look at the population, that does describe a disparity. That’s fair to say. But whether or not it is blatant discrimination is a much more complicated question.”
Law enforcement response
Data on Modesto police use of force revealed similar patterns. Earlier this year, The Bee reported that MPD used force against Black individuals at a rate four times their population.
Modesto Police Chief Brandon Gillespie said more context is needed to better understand police interactions.
Recently, the local NAACP sent a letter asking police auditors to further investigate the department’s use-of-force data. The Community Police Review Board, which aims to improve police accountability and transparency within MPD, also expressed interest in examining the data.
MPD is involved in a number of initiatives aimed at improving community relations, such as CPRB and their Cultural Relations Coaching Series. These initiatives were praised by board member Austin Grant at the last CPRB meeting.
“I would say to Chief Gillespie, thank you, because he’s working with someone I know very well to improve relations between the African American community, and it’s very much going to be one of those robust things that could be very historic . for this community,” Grant said.
In an interview with The Bee editors last year, Dirkse said he does not believe police supervision would change anything and views it as “a new layer of bureaucracy.”
When asked about his thoughts on the CPRB, he said, “Good job; they can do whatever they want. But I don’t believe it’s going to change anything, and I don’t mean that in a negative way.”
“It is unfortunate, but not surprising, that the Stanislaus Sheriff has a similar record of disproportionate use of force against Black residents as the Modesto Police Department,” said Tom Helme, co-founder of the Modesto nonprofit Valley Improvement Project and an ACLU NorCal volunteer. . “The difference is that Modesto has taken steps in recent years to be more transparent about law enforcement, such as creating a police oversight board and contracting with an independent auditor, which the sheriff has so far declined to consider.”
Dirkse said the department already has systems in place to hold officers accountable.
According to the Sheriff’s Office annual report, 39 administrative cases and 36 citizen complaints were filed in 2023. None of the citizen complaints led to further investigation, while this was the case in 44% of the administrative cases. One officer was fired last year. The report did not specify whether the cases were related to the use of force.
The report also noted that 54% of individuals involved in use-of-force incidents did not actively resist orders from law enforcement authorities.
The Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office requires a report for all incidents involving the use of force. A supervisor reviews each report to ensure the force used was appropriate and consistent with both Sheriff’s Office policy and the law.
If it appears that there has been abuse of force, an internal affairs investigation will be initiated. A substitute may face training, disciplinary action, or dismissal. In some cases, a separate criminal investigation may lead to prosecution if a violation of law or civil rights is found.
Wendy Byrd, president of the NAACP of Modesto-Stanislaus, said the statistics reflect a broader issue of racial bias in policing, employment, economic development, education, health care and other inequities related to Black people in Stanislaus County.
“[Systemic] Racism isn’t just about the moment, it’s about the long-term impact it has on someone’s life. The question is: what are we going to do about it,” she said in a statement.
