Yesterday we reported briefly on the disproportionate amount of times African Americans were arrested in San Francisco compared to their proportion of the population. The African American population is just 8 percent of San Francisco’s total population and yet they represent nearly fifty percent of all arrests. Looking at this another way, that is roughly 6.25 times what one might expect given the proportion of the population of African Americans in San Francisco.
The San Francisco police have offered up a number of factors to explain this discrepancy. These arguments are mainly based on group characteristics. The problem with that form of analysis is that we would then expect to see the same type of magnitude of disproportionality in all cities and we clearly do not. San Francisco’s discrepancy is much higher than other comparable cities.
“Many experts acknowledge that the factors Fong and her officers cite may contribute to the city's black arrest rate. They also note that in cities throughout America, African Americans are arrested in numbers that exceed their presence in the population. But they say the black arrest rate in San Francisco is so much higher than other California cities that the disparity cannot be explained completely by the factors cited by police.“ (San Francisco Chronicle, December 17. 2006).
By comparison the report suggests that this rate is twice that of Sacramento and Fresno, three times that of San Jose, Los Angeles, Long Beach and San Diego, and four times the rate of that in Oakland.
The question arose in a comment section of yesterday’s brief discussion item of how that compares locally. I have the figures that were cited by then Assistant Chief Steve Piece on August 22, 2005. This data only goes to August 19, 2005. Perhaps we can receive an update from the now acting chief.
In 2005, African Americans were 3.75 times more likely to be arrested than you would predict simply on the basis of population. In 2004, African Americans were 3.3 times more likely to be arrest than what you would predict based on their proportion of the population. In 2003, African Americans were 3.3 times more likely to be arrest than what you would predict given their proportion of the population.
I feel uncomfortable drawing conclusions based on these data in comparison with the big cities, given that I do not have raw numbers, only percentages in front of me. But an educated guess places the rate of disproportionality somewhat above that of Sacramento and Fresno but well below that of San Francisco. It seems a bit higher than in places like Los Angeles and a lot higher than places like Oakland. However, comparing Davis to large cities is perhaps unfair as well. I would like to see how this rate compares to adjacent cities and also cities of similar size. But nevertheless it is interesting to at least look at these numbers and see where Davis falls relative to Sacramento and Los Angeles. There is a clear problem in San Francisco that is going to take significant resources to study.
---Doug Paul Davis reporting
The San Francisco police have offered up a number of factors to explain this discrepancy. These arguments are mainly based on group characteristics. The problem with that form of analysis is that we would then expect to see the same type of magnitude of disproportionality in all cities and we clearly do not. San Francisco’s discrepancy is much higher than other comparable cities.
“Many experts acknowledge that the factors Fong and her officers cite may contribute to the city's black arrest rate. They also note that in cities throughout America, African Americans are arrested in numbers that exceed their presence in the population. But they say the black arrest rate in San Francisco is so much higher than other California cities that the disparity cannot be explained completely by the factors cited by police.“ (San Francisco Chronicle, December 17. 2006).
By comparison the report suggests that this rate is twice that of Sacramento and Fresno, three times that of San Jose, Los Angeles, Long Beach and San Diego, and four times the rate of that in Oakland.
The question arose in a comment section of yesterday’s brief discussion item of how that compares locally. I have the figures that were cited by then Assistant Chief Steve Piece on August 22, 2005. This data only goes to August 19, 2005. Perhaps we can receive an update from the now acting chief.
In 2005, African Americans were 3.75 times more likely to be arrested than you would predict simply on the basis of population. In 2004, African Americans were 3.3 times more likely to be arrest than what you would predict based on their proportion of the population. In 2003, African Americans were 3.3 times more likely to be arrest than what you would predict given their proportion of the population.
I feel uncomfortable drawing conclusions based on these data in comparison with the big cities, given that I do not have raw numbers, only percentages in front of me. But an educated guess places the rate of disproportionality somewhat above that of Sacramento and Fresno but well below that of San Francisco. It seems a bit higher than in places like Los Angeles and a lot higher than places like Oakland. However, comparing Davis to large cities is perhaps unfair as well. I would like to see how this rate compares to adjacent cities and also cities of similar size. But nevertheless it is interesting to at least look at these numbers and see where Davis falls relative to Sacramento and Los Angeles. There is a clear problem in San Francisco that is going to take significant resources to study.
---Doug Paul Davis reporting
