The recent DOJ report highlighted and showed the targeting of African Americans by police in Ferguson, MO. The police and city conspired to disproportionately focus their attention, to raise revenue, on one group of citizens.

What we see is that the black citizens were arrested and charged at rates higher than their percentage of the population. We see that they, compared to white citizens, faced a different police force and were handled differently. One of the strengths of the report is that it shows this statistically, with numbers. These are not baseless claims or anecdotes BUT analysis of data.

Now we ask, is Ferguson an isolated experience OR are black Americans facing this targeting in other cities? As we focus on the Central Valley, we will present data that shows a similar experience of people of color.

Here, we look at statistics pulled from the DOJ CJSC database.

In Turlock, Ca.

African Americans make up 1.7% of the population (1). However, they make up 5.1% of total arrests for 2013.

The main marker for racial disparity here is in comparison to white citizens. In Turlock, black citizens and hispanic citizens (see an upcoming report from us on this) both have arrest rates HIGHER than their percent of the population. White (non-Hispanic) citizens make up 52.8% of the population, but their arrest rates are slightly lower than their percent of the population (50.7%).

Black arrests were 137 of the total 2,682 arrests = 5.1%

White arrests were 1,361 of the total 2,682 arrests = 50.7%

What is more telling is the rate at which each race is arrested. Because whites make up a significantly higher percentage of the Turlock population, it can be difficult to gain a true sense of the disparity in arrests. To remove this variable and measure to scale, we looked at the number of arrests per 100 people of that racial population, allowing us to identify the arrest rate. What we found is alarming — black citizens are arrested at a rate more than 3 times higher than white citizens.

11.8 out of every 100 black people in Turlock were arrested in 2013.

3.7 out of every 100 white people in Turlock were arrested in 2013.

In Modesto, Ca.

Modesto has a higher population over all and a larger number of African Americans. There, blacks make up 4.2% of the population and whites (non-Hispanic) are 49.4% (2). But, as in Turlock, we see the disproportionate targeting of citizens of color. Per 100 black citizens, 13.5 were arrested compared to 5.5 white citizens. And again, blacks account for a percent of total arrests (11%) higher than their percent of population, while whites account for a percentage of arrests (52%) in line with their population percentage.

In Stanislaus County.

Turlock and Modesto both sit inside Stanislaus County, and as the report we highlighted yesterday shows, we know African Americans face targeting. The trend we show in Turlock and Modesto holds true for the entire county.

Black citizens make up 3.2% of the pop and 8.2% of arrests.

White citizens make up 46.7% of the pop and 50.9% of arrests.

Again, we see blacks arrested at an extremely disproportionate rate. 11.9 of every 100 black citizens are arrested, compared to 4.6 of every 100 white citizens.

TAKEAWAY

We ask again, is Ferguson isolated to Missouri or could it happen here?

We have seen the recent news about San Francisco Police engaging in racist messaging. The Modesto NAACP recently spotlighted Ceres (town between Turlock and Modesto) police engaging in lewd and harassing behavior as well as racist comments.

The DOJ report on Ferguson Police also highlighted racist emails and comments by police. So if Ceres is under investigation, and other police forces are engaging in the same activities (STAY TUNED) it seems Ferguson is not that far away.

WHAT DO WE WANT?

We ask that Turlock Police and Modesto Police take a hard look at these stats and numbers. We ask that they contact their local NAACP and listen to their thoughts. We ask that both police chiefs, and Sheriff Christianson, reach out to groups like the ACLU, PICO Network, or others to bring in outside perspectives on their policies.

We also demand that these forces participate in transparent communication with the public. Open your emails. Open your statistics. Communicate with us.

In an upcoming report here we will show how the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department and Turlock Police are not properly responding to legal public records request. Obfuscating the legal steps of citizens in gaining data is a serious offense, one they apparently are purposefully making. Ceres Police are blocking access to emails as well(they violated California State Law in a Public Records Act request by us). Turlock has not turned over emails due to a technical inability. Either way, the information requested is not being provided.

But in a post-Ferguson America, citizens are demanding accountability. If police forces truly want to be members of the community, transparency and policy changes are needed.