Annual report from state board found Latino and Black residents disproportionately affected by ongoing ‘pretextual stops’
By Sam Levin, The Guardian
California police were more than twice as likely to use force against Black residents than white residents during traffic and pedestrian stops in 2021, according to a new report on racial profiling.

The annual report from a state board also found that law enforcement searched Black people at 2.2 times the rate of white people, and that Black youths ages 15 to 17 were searched at nearly six times the rate of white teenagers. Latino residents were stopped and subjected to force at 1.4 times the rate of white people, and Latino youths were searched at nearly four times the rate of white youths.
The disproportionate searches of Black and Latino people have persisted despite the fact that from 2019 to 2021, officers were least likely to find contraband on members of those groups compared with white people, the report said.
California’s racial and identity profiling advisory board gathered data on stops by officers from 58 law enforcement agencies in 2021, and the findings are based on the officers’ perceptions of the race, ethnicity, gender and disability status of people they stop. The data suggests that racial profiling remains a systemic problem in the state, particularly with ongoing “pretextual stops”, when officers use minor violations as a pretext to investigate someone or launch a search that would otherwise not be justified.
Recent Posts
“Fascism Turned Up” As Trump FBI Arrests Judge
April 26, 2025
Take Action Now “It’s clear that actions like Judge Dugan’s are what is required for democracy to survive the Trump regime,”…
Is An Iran Nuclear Deal Actually Coming Soon?
April 25, 2025
Take Action Now Trump promises a deal by mid-June, but many obstacles remain.By Tarique Niazi, Foreign Policy In Focus The second round of…
Groups Demand Democrats Convene Emergency Meeting To Counter Trump’s Authoritarian Coup
April 25, 2025
Take Action Now Interview with Sam Rosenthal, political director of RootsAction.org, conducted by Scott HarrisBy Scott Harris, Between The Lines A…
Ben-Gvir Says GOP Leaders Agree Gaza ‘Food And Aid Depots Should Be Bombed’
April 25, 2025
Take Action Now The remarks by the Israeli national security minister, who is visiting the United States, came ahead of Israel’s bombing of a…