Law Enforcement's USE of force: what the actual data is saying

The following information comes from the 2019 DOJ report on Use of Force incidents throughout the state.

​In 2015, the California legislature passed Assembly Bill (AB) 71, adding GC section 12525.2. This new statute mandates law enforcement agencies (LEAs) in California to report use of force incidents that result in serious bodily injury or death or involve the discharge of a firearm.[1] Effective January 1, 2016, all LEAs were required to begin collecting data on use of force incidents--not only those where law enforcement used forced, also where civilians used force. Due to the narrow definition of use of force in the statute, the data contained in the DOJ report only represent incidents where use of force resulted in serious bodily injury or death or the discharge of a firearm. Caution should be used in making comparisons or generalizations with this data set as it does not contain the full spectrum of use of force incidents that occurred in California.

In 2019, Sonoma County reported 9 Use of Force Events. 

Incidents

• In 2019, statewide, there were 703 incidents that involved use of force resulting in serious bodily injury or death of a civilian or officer; or the discharge of a firearm. 
• Of the 703 incidents, 283 reported a discharge of a firearm. 
• Of the 703 incidents: 
  • 48.4 percent (340) occurred during a call for law enforcement service,
  • 18.5 percent (130) occurred while either a crime was in progress or while officers were investigating suspicious persons or circumstances, and
  • 13.5 percent (95) resulted from a vehicle/bike/ pedestrian stop. 
• Of the 703 incidents, 75.0 percent (527) resulted in an arrest

 
Civilian Data

• In 2019, 738 civilians were involved in incidents that involved the discharge of a firearm or use of force resulting in serious bodily injury or death.
• Of the 738 civilians: 
  • 91.6 percent (676) were male,
  • 7.5 percent (55) were female, and
  • 0.9 percent (7) fled the scene and their gender was unknown.
  • There were no reports received by DOJ in 2019 of use of force events involving transgender persons, and accordingly only male and female genders are represented in the data provided in this report. 
• Of the 738 civilians: 
  • 44.6 percent (329) were Hispanic,
  • 28.5 percent (210) were white, and
  • 19.5 percent (144) were black. 
• Of the 738 civilians: 
  • 31.3 percent (231) were hit by the discharge of a firearm,
  • 20.1 percent (148) and 11.5 percent (85) received force by other control hold/takedown tactics and electronic control device, respectively. 
• Of the 738 civilians: 
  • 66.7 percent (492) were injured,
  • 12.5 percent (92) were not injured, and
  • 19.9 percent (147) died. 
• Of the 738 civilians, officers perceived that 389 civilians were armed. Of the 738 civilians, 295 were confirmed to be armed.

 
Officer Data

• In 2019, 1,638 officers were involved in incidents that involved the discharge of a firearm or use of force resulting in serious bodily injury or death. 
• Of the 1,638 officers, 92.6 percent (1,516) were male and 7.4 percent (122) were female. 
• Of the 1,638 officers:
  • 53.2 percent (872) were white,
  • 33.6 percent (551) were Hispanic,
  • 4.9 percent (81) were Asian/Pacific Islander, and
  • 5.4 percent (88) were black. 
• Of the 1,638 officers:
  • 40.5 percent (664) did not receive force from a civilian,
  • 29.9 percent (490) received force during physical contact with
    a civilian, and
  • 9.7 percent (158) received force by the discharge of a firearm from a civilian. 
• Of the 1,638 officers:
  • 15.6 percent (255) were injured,
  • 84.2 percent (1,379) were not injured, and
  • 0.2 percent (4) died. 
• Of the 1,638 officers, 1,566 reported use of force. Officers reported they used force:
  • to affect arrest/take into custody (829),
  • to overcome resistance (473),
  • in defense of a 3rd party (230), and
  • to prevent escape (34) 

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[1] Serious bodily injury is defined in GC section 12525.2. Please see the Legislation section on page 6 for further detail. 
Discharge of a firearm - Includes any discharge of a firearm during an interaction between a civilian and an officer, regardless of whether any person was injured. A firearm is defined as a weapon that fires a shot by the force of an explosion, e.g., a handgun, rifle, shotgun, and other such device commonly referred to as a firearm. Not included in this definition are electronic control devices; stun guns; BB, pellet, air, or gas-powered guns; or weapons that discharge rubber bullets or bean bags. 
Injury severity - Severity levels below “serious bodily injury” are included in the data set due to the fact that reporting is required for any discharge of a firearm.