Advocates urge data-driven review after CJCJ says Black residents face disproportionate drug arrests

The Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice (CJCJ) told the Police Commission it has documented decades-long racial disparities in San Francisco drug arrests and urged a data-driven reevaluation of enforcement priorities.

Selena Tejdi of CJCJ said African Americans made up roughly 6% of San Francisco’s population but accounted for 54% of drug sales arrests and 40% of drug possession arrests in the city in the analysis cited to the commission. CJCJ urged the department to evaluate whether arrest-focused strategies are delivering public-safety benefits and to consider alternatives such as law-enforcement-assisted diversion.

Commissioners probed the data’s vintage and comparability. Several said the report relied on publicly available data through 2009; Director Giffen and Chief Sur acknowledged that historical data classification problems limited more recent longitudinal comparisons but said the department has taken steps to improve reporting, including adopting a dual-reporting process tied to the sheriff’s 19-ethnicity system and working to provide monthly composite reports.

Chief Sur and Director Giffen invited CJCJ to work with SFPD on updated analyses using corrected data; commissioners asked that future comparisons take into account demographic and socioeconomic differences when benchmarking against other counties. No formal policy change was adopted at the meeting; commissioners asked staff to make corrected data accessible for external review and to return with recent comparative figures when available.

The commission’s discussion highlighted a split between concern over historical disparities and the department’s assertion that data quality has substantially improved, underscoring the need for independent reanalysis using newly available data.