Framing
According to Sustainable Development Goal 16, people everywhere should live free of the fear of violence and feel safe regardless of their ethnicity, faith, or sexual orientation. The United States has far more violent crimes (especially homicides) compared to other high-income countries, largely due to the prevalence of gun violence. Despite having dropped significantly over the last 30 years, California's violent crime rate remains well above the United States' national average. California also has significant room for improvement with respect to fair policing and police violence. The high-profile police killing of Oscar Grant in 2009 in Oakland brought more public and policy attention to police violence and to the stark racial disparities in policing. However, despite policing reforms, between 2013 and 2023 California had more police killings per arrest than 73% of U.S. states. This report focuses on violent crimes and policing, but we acknowledge that these indicators merely scratch the surface of this multifaceted topic. In addition to these local indicators, we highlight the alignment of military contracts and lobbying activity in California, exposing profit incentives for war, militarization, and political violence abroad.
Policy spotlight
* The Racial and Identity Profiling Act (RIPA) of 2015 (AB 953) expanded the definition of racial profiling and mandated that all law enforcement agencies collect and report detailed data on stops, including the perceived race or ethnicity of individuals stopped. * Building on RIPA, the California Racial Justice Act of 2020 (AB 2542) prohibits the state from seeking or obtaining criminal convictions or imposing sentences based on race, ethnicity, or national origin. This legislation allows individuals to challenge their cases if there is evidence of racial bias or disparities in charges, convictions, or sentencing. * California Senate Bill 1421 of 2019 aims to improve police transparency and accountability by making records of police misconduct and use of force incidents publicly accessible.
Justice lens
* Disparities in violent crime and unfair policing in California are deeply rooted in factors of racial, social, and economic inequality. * The 2024 Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory (RIPA) Board report revealed significant disparities in policing. Black Californians were stopped 131% more frequently than their population proportion, and Native Americans faced the highest search rates at 22.4%, compared to 12.4% for White individuals. Despite these higher search rates, officers found contraband less frequently on people of color than on White individuals. Black students in schools with police presence were stopped and handcuffed at higher rates than other racial groups. LGBTQ+ and people with mental health disabilities are overrepresented in stand-alone resisting arrest charges, which suggests identity profiling. * Low-income communities of color are more likely to be incarcerated and victimized by violent crimes.
Source & citation
Content on this page draws from The California Doughnut Snapshot and Report, used under CC-BY 4.0.
Aritza, A. and Kraus-Polk, J. et al. (2025). The California Doughnut Snapshot and Report. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17540639