The findings in this assessment should be interpreted alongside context about the demographics of local residents, the demographics of sworn officers, and the department’s work toward racial equity. This section contains information on departmental initiatives related to equitable policing practices and police-community relations that was input directly by the department through a survey. Sacramento Police Department submitted its responses to the context survey on October 21, 2020.
Sacramento, CA 2021
DEPARTMENTAL CONTEXT
RESIDENT DEMOGRAPHICS
The population of Sacramento, California is 34% White, 30% Latinx, 20% Asian, 14% Black, 1.8% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and 0.4% Native. The total population of Sacramento, California is 469,208.
ABOUT THIS ASSESSMENT
The Sacramento Police Department joined CPE’s National Justice Database project in January 2020. The department shared data with CPE in order to receive analyses intended to support community and law enforcement collaboration on data-informed efforts to enhance equity in public safety. This assessment analyzes use of force, traffic stop, and non-traffic stop data from 2014-2019.
DEPARTMENT SUMMARY OF ITS KEY INITIATIVES
The Sacramento Police Department (SPD) has recently updated its policies on stops, use of force, racial profiling, data collection, and data quality assurance. In addition, SPD has implemented new training programs, programs to elicit community input on department policies/practices, and programs to reduce use of force or promote equity or community trust.
DEPARTMENT SUMMARY OF ITS RACIAL EQUITY INITIATIVES
In March of 2018, following the fatal shooting of Stephon Clark by officers of the Sacramento Police Department, Chief Daniel Hahn requested that the California Department of Justice (DOJ) conduct a comprehensive review of SPD’s policies, procedures, and training related to the use of force. SPD invited DOJ to identify areas for improvement and to fashion recommendations so that SPD could improve its processes and its service to the community, with the goal of safer outcomes for both citizens and officers.
In January of 2019, DOJ released its Phase I report with findings and 66 specific recommendations in six key areas to include use of force policy, use of force reporting and investigation, training, officer involved shooting review, personnel complaint procedures, and community engagement and transparency. SPD formed a policy review committee with subject matter experts, management, and members of the community and revised many of its use of force policies to include emphasizing de-escalation as a core principle, requiring specific warnings prior to the use of deadly force, the consideration of all available options when feasible prior to the use of deadly force, mandates on a duty to intervene, limiting shooting at moving vehicles except in narrowly tailored circumstances, and instituting comprehensive reporting with defined levels of force. In addition, various other policies have been revised to include the body worn camera policy, the foot pursuit policy, and the Conducted Energy Device policy to incorporate various changes to promote safer outcomes and to emphasize de-escalation, tactical re-positioning, and community care-taking.
SPD’s use of force policy statement was also revised in September of 2020 to further emphasize that the role of SPD officers in law enforcement is to safeguard life, dignity, and liberty of all persons, without prejudice to anyone and that peace officers shall carry out their duties, including use of force, in a manner that is fair and unbiased. To reinforce this concept, SPD officers are now referred to in policy as “peace officers” as opposed to “police officers.”
As for training, in response to recent legislative mandates in California, as well as SPD’s continuing efforts at increasing professionalism, emphasizing community caretaking, and promoting bias free policing, officers receive de-escalation training, procedural justice, implicit bias, and racial equity classes not only at the basic academy level, but also during in service and continuing education classes. Mandatory in-service courses attended by officers since 2016 include topics on procedural justice, fair and impartial policing, tactical communication, crisis intervention training (CIT), gender awareness, racial profiling and implicit bias, and transformational policing.
DEPARTMENT SUMMARY OF ITS COMMUNITY OUTREACH INITIATIVES
In order to increase accountability to the community, a transparency webpage was created on the SPD website. This page is regularly updated and includes SPD policy and procedures, various statistics, training summaries, use of force information, body worn camera audit information, and the full text and status of the California DOJ’s review and recommendations to SPD. This information is available to all members of the community to provide factual and transparent information about the Sacramento Police Department in a timely manner.
In addition, the SPD Public Information Office, as well as the Department’s Community Engagement and Outreach Division, routinely send out information and reach out to the community with updates regarding SPD efforts at building trust and transparency via social media, press releases, community academies, in person engagements, and video releases. Officers also routinely participate in various community events such as youth athletic programs, shopping for underprivileged families, and mentoring of at-risk youth to help spread SPD’s message of positive engagement. SPD also hosts a VIP academy experience which gives local community leaders, citizens, and youth from the community an opportunity to experience police training and the roles and duties of a police officer through various simulations and scenarios. SPD has also participated in several sessions of the Student Voices initiative, pairing young people with influential members of local government including police chiefs, the sheriff, the DA, and the mayor, where youth are able to provide perspective on their world and recommendations on how to create a greater Sacramento.
To increase engagement, partnerships, and to build trust with the community, SPD has staffed an entire unit dedicated to outreach. Some of the things which SPD has done to foster understanding and positive cooperation with the community is to create and promote innovative programs such as Walk in my Shoes, Adopt a Class, Shop with a Cop, Bigs with Badges, Healing Circles and many other programs entailing interaction with various communities and the youth that SPD serves.
