Recent use-of-force incidents by San Diego County Sheriff’s Department personnel involved Black citizens 18% of the time, though the group makes up far less of the local population, according to a study released Thursday.
The period covered, through last year, showed the disparity even though the white demographic is nearly 10 times more dominant within the local population.
The analysis by the Yale University-based Center for Policing Equity, which evaluated field data recorded between 2016 and 2020, found that 18% of the sheriff’s department use-of-force incidents over the period were directed toward Black people, though they comprise just 4.9% of the region’s population.
The authors of the study made those findings using a statistical technique known as “regression analysis” to account for the influence of particular crime rates, poverty levels and percentages of Black residents in various neighborhoods.
By comparison, white residents, who made up 48% of the county population during the study period, were the subjects of 44% of the department’s use-of-force incidents. Hispanics, who comprise 35% of the area citizenry, were involved in 32% of such incidents, according to the study.
The report defines law enforcement use of force as incidents in which peace officers employ their body or an object in an encounter with a member of the public to compel compliance, or in a way that could cause pain, injury or death.
The Yale center took various use-of-force measures into account, from firearms – either pointed or discharged – to the use of electric stun guns, service dogs, chemical irritants and neck restraints and other so-called “holds.”
They also evaluated the use of beanbag and “pepper ball” guns, bodily “takedowns” and hand strikes and kicks.
The center’s statistical analysis showed that neighborhood crime rates, poverty and share of Black residents accounted for 48% of the frequency of use of force on the part of sheriff’s personnel over the period. More than half of the incidents though could not be explained due to those factors, according to the report.
In response to the findings, sheriff’s officials acknowledged that their use-of-force numbers as reflected in the study “may appear higher than other agencies in the national database,” but stated that they “believe this is because we have always been more proactive in reporting (such) incidents.”
By way of example, the agency asserted in a prepared statement that it reports as use of force the application of a “spit sock” – a mesh hood placed over a detainee’s head to reduce possible transmission of saliva or blood.
“We also report the pointing of a firearm or less-lethal weapon as force used,” the department stated. “This is often referred to as a `show of force’ by other agencies, while some agencies do not report it at all.”
Moreover, the Yale study “did not account for the complexities of a large agency,” according to sheriff’s officials.
“A police department is responsible for one city or community,” the department statement notes. “In contrast, the sheriff’s department is responsible for 4,200 square miles of unincorporated areas across the county, as well as nine contract cities.”
Sheriff’s officials additionally pointed out that the analysis includes data on use-of-force incidents at the seven county detention centers in the San Diego area, which the department oversees.
“The demographics of our jail population consists of individuals arrested by nearly two dozen agencies in the county, not strictly (those from) the jurisdictions we serve or those used for comparison data,” sheriff’s officials asserted.
The Yale center in June released a report that found distinct racial disparities in police contacts – including searches, traffic stops and arrests – over a recent five-year period in area partrolled by the San Diego Police Department.
– City News Service
