SFPD presentation: traffic-stop data show disparities in consent searches; commission orders deeper analysis

SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco Police Department analysts on April 20 told the Police Commission that traffic-stop data collected from 2013 through 2015 total about 317,000 stops and that only a small percentage led to searches, but the distribution of consent searches raised concern among commissioners and community members.

"It's from 2013 to 2015. It's a total of 317,000 over 317,000 stops for that those years," Lieutenant Aaron Perra said as he opened a department presentation on the dataset and the limitations of the current E-585 reporting system. Perra said the department is moving to an e-citation program that will add searchable fields (ZIP code, stop type) and improve the quality of future reporting.

Captain Jack Hart, principal policing bureau, described how the small set of searches breaks down and flagged consent searches for closer scrutiny. "96% of the time, we do not conduct a search," Hart said. He told commissioners that about 4 percent of stops resulted in a search and that, of those, a subset (about 1,779 consent searches over three years) included a disproportionate share described in the presentation as Black drivers — a figure the presenters reported as 919 consent searches involving drivers identified as African American.

Commissioners and public commenters pressed for more granular data. Commissioner De Jesus asked for breakdowns that separate high-risk or DOJ-mandated stops from discretionary stops, and for information on whether policy-justified stops or repeat stops of the same individuals are inflating the numbers in affected groups. Commissioner Malera asked the department to gather ZIP-code or district-of-occurrence data and to match stops to licensed-driver data where possible so researchers can distinguish San Francisco residents from out-of-area drivers.

Members of the public echoed those concerns. Ray Hartz of San Francisco Open Government highlighted the racial gap and said the numbers are troubling. "Two and a half times more often, African Americans and Hispanics are searched when they're stopped for a traffic violation," he said during public comment.

Department staff and the commission agreed on next steps: the SFPD will continue to refine and release more detailed reports as the e-citation system comes online, and the commission asked staff to provide follow-up analyses that disaggregate by stop type, district/ZIP code, and to attempt linkage to licensed-driver data. Commissioners asked for regular updates as those datasets improve.

The presentation and the discussion made clear both the limits of the current dataset — the department acknowledged 2013 records are incomplete — and the policy stakes: the commission framed the issue as both a matter of data quality and potential bias in street-level enforcement. "If this is implicit bias, then we're gonna root it out," Captain Hart said, describing planned training and management actions. The commission asked for further reports to monitor progress.

What happens next: SFPD said body-worn cameras and the e-citation system should improve data collection; the commission asked for targeted follow-up on consent searches and for monthly or quarterly status updates until more complete, disaggregated data are available.