Sacramento Mayor Heather Fargo called a report showing that black motorists are pulled over by city police more frequently than other drivers “very disturbing” and apologized to those who have suffered from racial profiling.
During a tense – yet sparsely attended – City Council meeting Tuesday at which the report was presented, city officials said the Police Department needed to become more diverse and communicate better with the community.
The council session was the first public debate on the report, which was conducted by an outside consultant and released last week. Three town hall forums are scheduled this week.
The report, based on police traffic stops over a six-month period, found that black motorists were twice as likely to be pulled over in the city as non-black drivers, but no more likely to be cited.
It also found that black and Latino drivers were asked to get out of their cars more often than Asian and white drivers. Latino motorists also were patted down “at a significantly higher rate than would be expected,” the report stated.
Asian and white motorists were stopped less often than would be expected.
“I want to offer a very sincere and heartfelt apology to those that have suffered from the profiling that has been done,” Fargo said. “I want to apologize to those citizens who feel they haven’t received equal treatment or protection.”
Fargo said it was time for city and police officials to work with the community “to find solutions” to the issues raised by the report.
Police Chief Rick Braziel said that process has begun. He said many officers in his department received racial sensitivity training this year before the study was conducted because of perceptions within the community that officers were profiling motorists based on race.
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