{"id":36526,"date":"2023-01-23T12:53:42","date_gmt":"2023-01-23T12:53:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/?p=36526"},"modified":"2023-01-23T12:53:42","modified_gmt":"2023-01-23T12:53:42","slug":"s-f-police-often-use-these-weed-related-words-to-justify-unfounded-searches-of-black-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/2023\/01\/23\/s-f-police-often-use-these-weed-related-words-to-justify-unfounded-searches-of-black-people\/","title":{"rendered":"S.F. police often use these weed-related words to justify unfounded searches of Black people"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> [ad_1]<\/p>\n<p>San Francisco police officers regularly claim they suspect marijuana or smell a suspicious odor to justify unfounded searches of Black people in the city, a Chronicle analysis of more than three years of stop data has found.<\/p>\n<p>The data, which sheds light on the reasons police give for conducting fruitless searches of Black residents \u2014 mostly in cars but also on foot \u2014 and raises questions about whether the city\u2019s decision <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/bayarea\/article\/S-F-Police-Commission-bans-pretextual-traffic-17712630.php\" rel=\"noopener\">to end certain kinds of lower-level police stops<\/a> will make any difference.<\/p>\n<div id=\"paywall\">\n<p>The Chronicle evaluated the terminology that San Francisco police used to explain the unfounded searches of approximately 8,000 people between July 2018 and September 2021, from a total of over 200,000 stops conducted during that time and about 39,000 searches. We included all encounters where police conducted a search that resulted in no arrests or citations and yielded no \u201ccontraband\u201d (weapons, drugs or other items suggestive of criminal activity).<\/p>\n<p>        <!-- hearst\/article\/content\/embed.tpl --><\/p>\n<section class=\"article--content-embed fullwidth\">\n                        <span class=\"defer-load\" data-progressive=\"true\" data-component=\"misc-embed-script\" data-js=\"https:\/\/projects.sfchronicle.com\/shared\/js\/responsive-frame.js\"\/><iframe is=\"responsive-iframe\" height=\"\" interval=\"1\" width=\"100%\" data-progressive=\"true\" data-component=\"misc-iframe\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/projects\/2023\/police-words-square-chart\/\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<p><!-- e hearst\/article\/content\/embed.tpl -->            <\/p>\n<p>In one field of the data, labeled \u201cbasis for search narrative,\u201d we found officers frequently employed the words \u201csmell,\u201d \u201cmarijuana\u201d and other drug-related terms during searches of Black people, even if they indicated in the data that they did not find any drugs and took no action as a result of their searching. Officers employed the word \u201cmarijuana\u201d in 269 unsuccessful searches of Black people, compared to 38 mentions for white people, despite the fact that Black people make up just 5% of the city\u2019s population and white people make up 51%.<\/p>\n<p>In these unsupported encounters, police used the word \u201csmell\u201d in searches of Black residents at 85 times the rate of white people. They used \u201cmarijuana\u201d to search Black people at 58 times the rate of white people. Officers were also disproportionately likely to use loaded words such as \u201cfirearm,\u201d \u201cgun,\u201d \u201ccrime\u201d and \u201cbaggy\u201d to justify frisking Black people in searches where they came up empty-handed.<\/p>\n<p>        <!-- hearst\/article\/content\/embed.tpl --><\/p>\n<section class=\"article--content-embed fullwidth\">\n                        <iframe frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" width=\"100%\" data-progressive=\"true\" data-component=\"misc-iframe\" data-url=\"https:\/\/playlist.megaphone.fm\/?e=SFO1079325908\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<p><!-- e hearst\/article\/content\/embed.tpl -->            <\/p>\n<p>The words with the lowest Black-white disparity, on the other hand, tended to be more procedural (though because police search Black people at such high rates, they used all terms more for Black people than white). These included \u201ctools,\u201d \u201cpocket\u201d and \u201cweapon.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>        <!-- Missed: ad --><\/p>\n<p>Very few white people were subjected to an unsuccessful search related to marijuana or odor, showing how San Francisco police officers\u2019 selective enforcement for lower-level infractions may contribute to their vastly disproportionate stop and search rates for Black residents.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not surprising that (The Chronicle) analysis appears to show that S.F. Police who are making these unwarranted stops are more suspicious of people of color,\u201d San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju said via email. \u201cThe language police use in these reports is revealing, and lends further credence to what we already know \u2014 that pretext stops are racially biased and inflict disproportionate harm on people of color.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The San Francisco Police Department did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n<p>The Chronicle\u2019s findings come amid ongoing discussions about how to reduce the frequency with which people of color are subjected to police bias. In San Francisco specifically, Black people were about six times as likely to be stopped by police as white people in 2020, and 10 times more likely to be searched as a result of a stop. And while white people were more likely to be in possession of illegal substances when searched, Black people are more likely to be subjected to physical force by police, according to a state-level advisory board tasked with reducing police bias.<\/p>\n<p>        <!-- Missed: ad --><\/p>\n<p>San Francisco\u2019s disproportionate stop and search rates make it an outlier even in California, where Black people are disproportionately stopped by every law enforcement agency reporting data to the state, <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/projects\/2022\/california-racial-profiling-police-stops\/\" rel=\"noopener\">as a previous Chronicle analysis found<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>To curb this widespread bias, on Jan. 11, the San Francisco Police Commission <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/bayarea\/article\/S-F-Police-Commission-bans-pretextual-traffic-17712630.php\" rel=\"noopener\">approved a draft of a law<\/a> restricting \u201cpretextual\u201d traffic stops, in which police stop drivers for minor violations like expired registration tags or a broken taillight in order to investigate probable criminal activity. Meanwhile, state Sen. Steven Bradford, D-Gardena (Los Angeles County), is rallying support for SB50, which would <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/politics\/article\/california-police-traffic-stop-ban-17714700.php\" rel=\"noopener\">outlaw several forms of pretextual stops<\/a> and is a rehash of a bill he introduced but that failed to pass last year.<\/p>\n<p>The data we analyzed included all stops, not just those made under specific \u201cpretextual\u201d codes as defined by the commission.<\/p>\n<p>During the Jan. 11 Police Commission meeting, more than 20 community members testified that over-policing causes both the possibility of <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/sf\/article\/police-violence-Black-residents-17272732.php\" rel=\"noopener\">police brutality<\/a> and a toxic environment where marginalized communities have reason to distrust law enforcement.<\/p>\n<p>One caller described being pulled over in the city\u2019s Bayview neighborhood for having \u201cheavily tinted\u201d back windows. She said an officer posed \u201cuncomfortable\u201d questions to her, like whether her boyfriend was a criminal and how often she commits crimes in the car she was driving. The caller, who admitted to being on parole at the time of the police stop, said her vehicle was searched and officers found a small can of pepper spray, which led to them using \u201cexcessive force\u201d while removing her from her vehicle.<\/p>\n<p>        <!-- Missed: ad --><\/p>\n<p>The Bayview contains the city\u2019s highest <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/bayarea\/justinphillips\/article\/black-culture-sf-fillmore-17700294.php\" rel=\"noopener\">concentration of Black residents<\/a>, despite the fact that San Francisco\u2019s overall Black population has been steadily shrinking over the past 60 years for <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/bayarea\/justinphillips\/article\/sf-reparations-black-17716918.php\" rel=\"noopener\">a variety of interrelated and often complex reasons<\/a>, including racial bias.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI lost my job, my car,\u201d the caller said. \u201cI did nothing wrong that day and that stop change(d) my life forever.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another speaker, William Palmer, the executive director of \u201cLife After Next,\u201d a re-entry program for the formerly incarcerated, and a member of the Sheriff\u2019s Department Oversight Board, shared his own story. Palmer was also on parole at the time.<\/p>\n<p>His account goes something like this: He was pulled over by a San Francisco police officer and was forced to exit his car and sit on the curb while police conducted a search of his vehicle.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor a person on parole, that\u2019s anxiety-filling, that\u2019s trauma-triggering and was just disrespectful,\u201d he said, adding that police let him go without a citation. \u201cI am a survivor of contact with police.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Not everybody can say the same. Mapping Police Violence, a research and advocacy group that tracks police killings nationwide, found police <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2022\/apr\/21\/us-police-violence-traffic-stop-data\" rel=\"noopener\">killed nearly 600 people in traffic stops<\/a> between 2017 and 2022. Black people represent only 13% percent of the U.S. population, but accounted for 28% of people killed in traffic stops.<\/p>\n<p>        <!-- Missed: ad --><\/p>\n<p>Brian Cox, director of the Integrity Unit at the San Francisco Public Defender\u2019s Office, said his office\u2019s clients experience these disparities all the time.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"article--content-inline\">\n<aside class=\"zone\"><!-- src\/business\/widgets\/hearst\/collection\/widget.tpl --><\/p>\n<p>    <!-- e src\/business\/widgets\/hearst\/collection\/widget.tpl --><\/aside>\n<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cThey\u2019re tired of being harassed by police, they are tired of being stopped for, sometimes, what is effectively driving while Black, or being detained and searched constantly,\u201d Cox said. \u201cIn a place like San Francisco where there is a stated commitment to progressive values, the fact that this happens just goes against that commitment quite substantially.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Now that San Francisco has approved a draft of its pretext stop policy, the policy will move to meet-and-confer sessions between the city and the San Francisco Police Officers Association, which allows the union to weigh in on policy changes. After these sessions are complete, the Police Commission will vote again on the final version of the policy.<\/p>\n<p>Los Angeles, Berkeley, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C., meanwhile, are cities that have already passed legislation to limit these kinds of police interactions.<\/p>\n<p>While the results of pretext stop bans in different cities are as varied as the policies themselves, the Los Angeles Times <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/california\/story\/2022-11-14\/minor-traffic-stops-plummet-in-months-after-lapd-policy-change\" rel=\"noopener\">reports<\/a> that after the Los Angeles Police Department policy was implemented in March 2022, it was followed by an almost immediate decline in police stopping people for minor violations, and officers were conducting far fewer searches during these stops.<\/p>\n<p>Police stop disparities are baked into the historic origins of American law enforcement, said Chauncee Smith, a senior manager of Reimagine Justice and Safety for the racial justice-focused nonprofit Catalyst California.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cToday, what we have are these low-level infractions that can be used by present day officers to stop people of color for relatively innocuous things that pose little to no safety risk,\u201d he said. \u201cFor generations there has been significant distrust&#8230; when it comes to law enforcement and its ability to keep all Californians safe. And this is rooted in a long history of racism embedded in our country\u2019s approach to law enforcement.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Partially because of this history of distrust, many Black people find it difficult to openly discuss their experiences with police, said Cox.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot only is it difficult for people to talk about it when it happens to them because of having to relive that trauma, but there\u2019s a fear of retaliation, and a fear that there is nobody out in their community to protect them if they say something negative about the police,\u201d Cox said. \u201cThey think about how all the civilian oversight boards in the world can\u2019t stop that specific officer from doing something to them again.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Saundra Haggerty, a member of Glide, a San Francisco-based organization that focuses on social justice issues, said she volunteered to share her story because exposing disparities in police stops is directly tied to her work.<\/p>\n<p>One night in June 2020, she was driving through San Francisco\u2019s posh Marina neighborhood when a police cruiser began following her. Haggerty said she was driving the speed limit, which made it all the more frightening when the police car\u2019s lights began flashing in her rearview mirror.<\/p>\n<p>According to Haggerty, a tense exchange ensued when the officer who pulled her over pointed out that her tail light was broken and then grew frustrated over her refusal to roll down her window completely during their interaction.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was thinking about my own safety,\u201d recalled Haggerty, who said that she was eventually let go without a citation. \u201cIt\u2019s not that I live life not thinking about how I\u2019m a Black woman in this city, but there are moments where you know you\u2019re going to get reminded that you are. \u2026 That cop behind me was one of those moments, and I knew it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>        <!-- hearst\/article\/content\/embed.tpl --><\/p>\n<section class=\"article--content-embed fullwidth\">\n                        <iframe title=\"Terms used by San Francisco police in justification of unsuccessful searches\" aria-label=\"Table\" id=\"datawrapper-chart-1rsmA\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;\" height=\"810\" data-external=\"1\" width=\"100%\" data-progressive=\"true\" data-component=\"misc-iframe\" data-url=\"https:\/\/datawrapper.dwcdn.net\/1rsmA\/5\/\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<p><!-- e hearst\/article\/content\/embed.tpl -->            <\/p>\n<p><em>Susie Neilson and Justin Phillips are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: susie.neilson@sfchronicle.com, jphillips@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @susieneilson, @JustMrPhillips <\/em><\/p>\n<section id=\"articleBottom\" class=\"article--content-zone bottom\"\/><\/div>\n<p>[ad_2]<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/__i\/rss\/rd\/articles\/CBMiTmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnNmY2hyb25pY2xlLmNvbS9zZi9hcnRpY2xlL3BvbGljZS1zdG9wLXBvdC1ibGFjay13ZWVkLTE3NzMxODk0LnBocNIBAA?oc=5\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[ad_1] San Francisco police officers regularly claim they suspect marijuana or smell a suspicious odor&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":36527,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36526"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36526\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36528,"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36526\/revisions\/36528"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}