Sacramento, CA 2021

DATA NOTES

This section contains information on how CPE defines and categorizes the data collected from departments.

DEFINING RACIAL GROUPS AND STANDARD CATEGORIES

Defining racial groups:

Defining racial groups: CPE uses “racial group” to refer to groups described in departmental records by racial category (e.g., Hispanic or Latinx, Asian, Black, Native, White). When we compare departmental records of incidents to local demographic data, these racial groups are mapped onto Census data for the following groups: Hispanic (referred to as “Latinx” in this assessment), non-Hispanic Asian, non-Hispanic Black, non-Hispanic Native American, and non-Hispanic White. The “Other” category, if used, combines racial groups making up less than 2% of incidents.

Our use of “racial” as a shorthand for these groups does not represent a claim that any person belongs to any monolithic “race,” or indeed that the category of “race” has any objective or biological meaning, apart from its social and political context. We acknowledge the historic and deliberate use of racial categories in crime statistics to link criminality to Black people, a bias that continues to affect marginalized communities and people in the criminal justice system today. We also recognize that the terms we use to describe racial groups are not universally accepted or preferred by members of the groups they describe. We aim to use terms which are inclusive, widely understood, and unlikely to offend.

Defining use of force: According to the policy manual provided by Sacramento PD, “reportable force” is defined as follows (G.O. 580.02, “Use of Force,” s.A, “Definitions”):

REPORTABLE UOF – Any UOF that causes injury as defined below; any UOF whether or not it results in injury, involving the discharge of a firearm, a canine bite, or use of an impact weapon, chemical agent, or CED; and any UOF, whether or not it results in injury, that deviates from the techniques taught and the equipment provided by the department (section G.4. & G.5.).

Injury, which can trigger an obligation to report (see above), is defined as follows:

a) INJURY – Any visible bodily injury or complaint of bodily injury (non-visible injury). The injury must be reasonably related to the UOF applied. Injury, as defined in this order, does not include the temporary pain associated with the proper application of control holds and/or restraints.
b) SERIOUS BODILY INJURY – A serious impairment of physical condition, including but not limited to loss of consciousness, protracted loss or impairment of function of any bodily member or organ, a wound requiring extensive suturing, and serious disfigurement.

Also according to the policy manual, officers are required to record use of force in the following circumstances (G.O. 580.02, “Use of Force,” s.M(1)):

MANDATORY REPORTING PROCEDURE

Reporting Uses of Force
a. Employees shall notify the field supervisor as soon as practical anytime any UOF used to overcome a combative, physically aggressive, or fleeing subject who has delayed, obstructed, or fought with a peace officer.
b. A reportable UOF is any UOF where any of the following apply:
(1) The UOF involves:
(a) The discharge of a firearm.
(b) A canine bite.
(c) The use of an impact weapon.
(d) The use of a chemical agent.
(e) The application caused a visible injury.
(f) The subject subjected to the force complained of injury or continuing pain.
(g) Any application of a CED
(h) The subject subjected to the force was rendered unconscious.
(i) The use of personal body weapons.
(j) Any UOF as outlined in Appendix #1 with the corresponding reporting requirements in Appendix #2 (refer to Appendix #1 and #2 at end of policy)
(k) A subject alleges any of the above has occurred.
(2) The UOF deviates from the techniques taught or the equipment provided by the department (see in section G.4. & G.5.).
(3) The UOF causes injury.
(a) For the purpose of determining if a UOF is reportable, an injury is defined as any visible bodily injury or complaint of bodily injury (non-visible injury). The injury must be reasonably related to the UOF applied. The temporary pain associated with the proper application of control holds and/or restraints is not an injury for purposes of determining if a UOF is reportable.
…
e. Whether or not a UOF is reportable under this policy, any UOF used to overcome a combative, physically aggressive, or fleeing subject who has delayed, obstructed, or fought with a peace officer shall be documented in a crime, casualty, or incident report. The peace officer’s field supervisor shall be notified. Brief resistance to the application of departmentally approved control holds does not require a report.

The circumstances in which use of force must be recorded are further set out in two charts set out in two appendices to G.O. 580.02 (pp.18-19). A report (and other recording obligations) is required in the following circumstances:

Level 1 Use of force:

UOF resulting in death
UOF resulting in Serious Bodily Injury (SBI)
Officer involved shooting resulting in injury or death
Officer involved shooting-subject missed
Use of vehicle as weapon resulting in SBI
In-custody death
Use of non-issued equipment resulting in SBI or death

Level 2 Use of force:

In case of Level 3 use of force, officers are required to complete a “Red border form (RM 3) if there is visible injury,” but there is “No tracking software entry.” Level 3 use of force is defined as “Any UOF used to overcome a combative, physically aggressive, or fleeing subject who has delayed, obstructed, or fought with an officer; Any UOF that results in a visible injury or complaint of pain by the subject to whom force was applied to. Example: visible scratch, abrasion, complaint of pain however not minor discomfort by application of certain control holds or handcuffs.”

Standardizing categories:

Each law enforcement agency collects stop, search, use of force, and racial data in its own way. In order to interpret data consistently across departments, we sort the data received from departments into standardized categories. The following tables show the categories used by the department and how we translate them into CPE categories. The “LEA-Provided Value” column contains the categories that the department provided to CPE, and the “CPE Standardized” column shows the corresponding category CPE used in this assessment.

For more information about why certain results were not displayed, a detailed list of data requirements for each analysis is available under “More information,” beneath the relevant chart.