Black people are more likely to get arrested in San Diego. And during the pandemic, the arrest rate increased significantly.

In 2013, black people were arrested five times more than their white counterparts. In 2020, despite a decrease in the number of arrests by San Diego Police Officers, the rate of blacks arrested compared to whites surged to nearly 6 times.

According to data from the San Diego Police Department, in 2013 nearly 50 black people were arrested out of every 100 according to census population estimates. During that same year, 9 white people were arrested out of every 1000 people.

In 2020, as the pandemic ravaged the country and San Diego County, police in San Diego arrested 3,666 black people whereas 5,095 whites were arrested during the same time frame. When population according to race is factored in, it means 20 out of every 1000 blacks were arrested while only 3 whites out of every 1000 were taken into custody. That equates to back arrest rates were six times higher than whites during the pandemic.

Here is a table showing the disparity in arrests per 100 people.

Year Blacks Arrested Per 100 Whites Arrested Per 100 Black Arrest Rate
2012 1.1 0.2 5.4
2013 4.7 0.9 5
2014 4.3 0.9 4.8
2015 3.9 0.7 5.2
2016 3.7 0.7 5.4
2017 3.8 0.7 5.2
2018 3.2 0.6 5.1
2019 2.9 0.6 5.1
2020 2 0.3 5.9
2021 0.2 0 6.7