Dear Police Reform Project Subscribers, We have been critical of pretext stops and the racial disparities universally observed in each study reviewing these stops. But will the steps we suggest help reduce or eliminate racial disparities? While a number of cities and states are moving on legislation and policies to curb pretext stops, we do not yet have long range data. But good news out of California provides us with some glimmers of the impact legislation can have. In its March 2026 Policy Brief, “Have Racial Disparities in Law Enforcement Stops Narrowed?”, the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) reviews the effect of changes implemented as part of the Racial and Identity Profiling Act (RIPA) in 2015. RIPA required that the state review racial and ethnic disparities in law enforcement encounters, and that officers be trained in “racial and cultural understanding, as well as use-of-force/de-escalation.” The PPIC analyzed stops between 2019 and 2023. It noted stops plunged at the start of the pandemic, remained low through the analysis period. It attributed the reductions to not just the pandemic, but the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd, limits to pretext stops, and decreased police staffing. Key findings were:
- Decreases in racial disparities in the likelihood of being stopped: “The Black-white gap in police stops decreased by 57%, while the Latino-white stop rate gap decreased by 7%.”
- Searches of those stopped became more likely. (This was interpreted as stops becoming more selective and productive. We believe this could also mean that limitations on certain stops led police to engage more deeply with those who were stopped.)
- Stops with no enforcement dropped across agencies (no ticketing or charges).
- The proportion of searches in which contraband was found increased.
- Police and California Highway Patrol stops of Black and Latino Californians were no more likely than stops of white individuals to result in no enforcement (including warnings). However, Black and Latino motorists continued to be more likely to be searched than white motorists. This, despite the finding which we have seen in other studies that searches of Black and Latino motorists continued to be less likely to yield contraband, except in 2023.
- Black and Latino individuals are more likely to have intrusive experiences during a stop
As this study indicates, reducing the number of pretext stops and making other changes may well meet our important goal of reducing racial disparities in who gets stopped. The data is preliminary, but as more states begin engaging in this analysis, we expect that further studies will continue to support this conclusion. We look forward to those future studies analyzing changes made through policy and legislation across the country. Sincerely, Jill Paperno Katie Blum |
|
Get Involved in Empire Justice Center's Police Reform Project! |
|
