California’s Racial and Identity Profiling Act (RIPA) is one of several recent efforts to address racial/ethnic disparities in the criminal justice system. Enacted in 2015 and rolled out to all law enforcement agencies by 2023, RIPA requires detailed reporting on all pedestrian and traffic stops. In a virtual briefing last week, PPIC researchers Magnus Lofstrom and Brandon Martin discussed a new report—the first to examine whether racial disparities in law enforcement stops have narrowed, as the law intended.
The report focuses on stops between 2019 and 2023 by the 15 largest law enforcement agencies: the California Highway Patrol, six county sheriff’s departments, and eight police departments. It builds on previous PPIC research, which found substantial racial/ethnic disparities in criminal justice experiences and outcomes. “This was especially stark when we looked at differences between white and Black individuals,” said Lofstrom. What can recent RIPA data tell us about how these disparities have changed?
“This is a descriptive report that tries to understand changes in racial disparities,” Lofstrom said. “It is not an evaluation of the legislation itself.”
A key part of the big picture is the dramatic impact of the pandemic on the criminal justice system. Lofstrom noted that, at the onset of the pandemic, “we see a drop in monthly stops from well over 300,000 to below 200,000.” Lofstrom added that the number of stops remains well below pre-pandemic levels: “In 2023, we see about a million fewer stops being made—that’s a decrease of about 26%.” This overall decline was primarily driven by the eight police departments.
As Lofstrom noted, “Fewer stops means fewer intrusive and risky encounters—for both the officer and the individual being stopped.” The decline in stops has led to a decrease in Black-white disparities in the likelihood of being stopped by police departments, but notable disparities remain.
To assess whether disparities in what happens during a law enforcement stop have changed over time, it is important to factor in the reasons for a stop and other context. “There are a variety of reasons why a person is being stopped, and it’s likely that the kind of experience a person will have will depend on those reasons,” said Lofstrom. “A stop for a traffic violation is very likely to look different from a stop where an officer is looking to serve a warrant for someone’s arrest.”
In 2019, Black and Latino Californians were more likely to be searched than white and Asian Californians, but officers were less likely to find contraband. That remained mostly the case in 2023, with one exception: police searches of Black individuals were more likely to yield contraband than searches of white individuals. This, along with the notable drop in police stops that led to no enforcement—with Black Californians experiencing the biggest decreases—indicates that police department stops are becoming more selective and productive.
Overall, however, Lofstrom noted that “our analysis does not reveal broad and meaningful decreases in racial disparities in experiences during stops.” This highlights the need for a better understanding of the impact of investments in officer training on these inequities, and the importance of identifying effective approaches.
