California’s latest traffic and pedestrian stop numbers are in, and they are not exactly a confidence boost. The California Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory Board on Friday released its ninth annual analysis of police stops, examining roughly 5.1 million vehicle and pedestrian stops in 2024 and finding persistent disparities that the board says undercut trust between communities and law enforcement across the state. The report also lays out policy recommendations aimed at lawmakers, local agencies and state oversight bodies, with a public briefing on the findings slated for later this winter.
The CA RIPA Board is releasing its annual report analyzing police stops across CA and exploring the relationship between racial and identity profiling and public safety.This report provides valuable data and research to advance positive systemic reforms, and we’re proud to…
— Rob Bonta (@AGRobBonta) January 31, 2026
Attorney General Rob Bonta highlighted the release in a post on X, calling the board’s analysis “valuable data and research” for advancing reforms and noting that the Attorney General’s Office helped carry out the work. His post links to the board’s materials and to a related announcement from the California Department of Justice, while the board’s web page hosts the full report, appendix and a recommendations brief for policymakers. See the post on X and the reports page on the California Department of Justice for the full materials.
What the report found
The board’s latest analysis covers about 5.1 million stops reported by 533 state and local agencies in 2024, along with roughly 13,000 civilian complaints. According to a press release from the California Department of Justice, the data shows Black Californians were stopped 128% more often than expected, while people perceived as Pacific Islander were stopped 58% more often. The release also notes that most stops were officer initiated and traffic related, and that profiling complaints rose to 17.5% of civilian complaints in 2024.
Who bears the burden
The report finds that the disparities reach beyond race, touching housing status, age and gender identity. People perceived as unhoused were more likely to be stopped based on reasonable suspicion, and nearly half of those stops ended in arrest, according to the analysis. Regional patterns also stand out: the Bay Area showed higher stop rates for individuals perceived as Black, while Southern California agencies recorded disproportionate stops of people perceived as Hispanic or Latino. Prior RIPA analyses and local reporting have flagged similar trends, including higher use of force against Black youth and disproportionate searches and enforcement actions involving Native American people. As the San Francisco Chronicle has noted, this year’s findings largely track multiyear patterns rather than a one year anomaly.
What the board recommends
The board’s report lays out nine targeted recommendations for the Legislature, local policymakers, the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training and civilian oversight bodies. The proposals focus on reducing discretionary stops, improving how civilian complaints are investigated and tightening decertification processes. In its Recommendations and Best Practices appendix, the board emphasizes limiting pretext stops, expanding community oversight and using data driven policies to reduce disparities. The materials include an executive summary, a best practices brief and statutory tables intended to help policymakers translate the evidence into concrete action. The full package of recommendations and appendices is available on the California Department of Justice.
Legal and oversight context
The new report lands as California continues to roll out SB 2, which expanded POST’s role in investigating and seeking decertification for serious misconduct. The Department of Justice materials include updated POST figures that describe a large volume of misconduct reports and hundreds of certification actions as the commission works through both a backlog and new reporting duties. For additional background on how decertification works and the types of conduct that can trigger it, see the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training. The RIPA board is urging lawmakers and POST to move faster in converting the growing body of data into training, discipline and more transparent oversight.
The Department of Justice plans to host a community briefing on the findings on Thursday, February 26, 2026, and the board says it hopes the materials will fuel policy conversations at both the state and local level. Lawmakers and police groups have already spent years sparring over changes such as limits on pretext stops and the makeup of the RIPA board, so the new analysis is likely to re ignite long running debates over how to turn data into law. Civil rights advocates and police unions alike will be watching to see whether the Legislature adopts any of the board’s nine recommendations in the coming months. For details on the briefing and to view the full report, see the press release from the California Department of Justice…