Black people in California were stopped 127.87% more often than expected in 2024, the latest year analyzed in the state’s annual racial and identity profiling report.

The reports are annual reviews by California’s Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory (RIPA) Board, created under the Racial and Identity Profiling Act of 2015.

The board analyzes statewide stop data by officers’ perceptions of race and other identities, reviews complaints alleging profiling and examines law enforcement policies, training and accountability systems. It also recommends changes aimed at reducing profiling.

Black people were stopped at more than 2.2 times the rate that their share of the population would predict. The disparity has persisted across every year of comparable data in the reports, though its size has shifted.

The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department reported 19 racial and identity profiling complaints in 2016, 39 in 2017, 35 in 2018 and 39 in 2019.

The number rose to 71 in 2020, then fell each year: 47 in 2021, 39 in 2022, 16 in 2023 and seven in 2024.

The latest total was a 56.25% decrease from the prior year and about 90% below the 2020 peak.

The 2016 report was the first year agencies had to track these complaints, a caveat the Board explains may partly explain the low initial count.

The reports also name San Bernardino County communities in school-policing discussions.

They list school police departments serving Apple Valley, Fontana, Hesperia and San Bernardino City, alongside enrollment data by race.

The 2022-23 tables put Black students at 7.4% of Apple Valley Unified enrollment, 5.1% of Fontana Unified, 6.4% of Hesperia Unified and 10.3% of San Bernardino City Unified.

In 2022, Fontana Unified police reported 385 stops among 34,170 students, but the report does not break those stops down by race.

A separate section notes a DOJ stipulated judgment involving Barstow Unified that addressed citations and arrests disproportionately affecting students of color.

The statewide figures show why local comparisons matter. For 2019 stops, Black people were stopped 140.9% more often than expected based on their share of the residential population.

The disparity grew to 151.5% in 2020, then eased to 144.2% in 2021, 131.5% in 2022 and 126.46% in 2023.

In 2024 it edged up to 127.87%. Across the six years, the rate stayed above twice the expected level.

Other racial groups also experienced disparities, though not always in the same direction or size.

In 2023, Hispanic/Latine people were stopped 43.76% more often than expected, while White people were stopped 4.38% less often.

For 2024, the report found Pacific Islander people were stopped 57.53% more often than expected, while multiracial people were stopped 76.39% less often and Asian people 51.86% less often.

These comparisons use officer-perceived race, which may differ from a person’s self-identification.

In 2023, Black Californians ages 18-24 were stopped 228.30% more often than expected, compared with 170.03% for Black people 25 and older.

RIPA data also show racial differences in what happens after a stop.

In 2024, officers reported some form of force in 16.62% of stops involving people perceived as Black, compared with 8.76% of stops involving people perceived as White.

The Black rate was nearly twice the White rate. Black people had the highest reported rate of less-lethal force, 0.98%, and a 15.63% rate of limited force, behind Native American people.

The Board’s broad force categories range from handcuffing or vehicle removal to pointing or firing a gun.

Earlier reports found an adjusted Black-White disparity in the odds that force would be used.

After considering other factors, the Board estimated Black people had 1.45 times the odds of force during a stop as White people in 2019, 1.32 times in 2020 and 1.24 times in 2021.

The difference remained statistically significant in each analysis. The newest report’s 2024 analysis also found Black people had a higher chance of force than White people after accounting for characteristics such as agency, region and reason for the stop.

For San Bernardino County, the Sheriff’s Department’s complaints declined after 2020, but the reports do not show whether local racial stop or force disparities narrowed with them.

Statewide, Black Californians remained more than twice as likely to be stopped as population comparisons predicted in 2024 and experienced force during stops at nearly double the rate reported for White people.