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We obtained data on 58 California sheriff's departments.

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Sheriff's Department Sacramento County
35% SCORE

Scorecard at a Glance

Average for 4 Sections: 35%

Scores range from 0-100% comparing counties with over 250k population. Counties with higher scores spend less on policing, use less force, are more likely to hold officers accountable and make fewer arrests for low-level offenses.

Worse
50th Percentile
Better
Police Funding:  29%
Police Budget Cost per Person        
Misconduct Settlements        
Fines/Forfeitures        
Police Presence/Over-Policing (Officers per Population)        
Police Violence:  50%
Force Used per Arrest        
Deadly Force per Arrest        
Unarmed Victims of Deadly Force per Arrest        
Racial Disparities in Deadly Force        
Worse
50th Percentile
Better
Police Accountability:  6%
Misconduct Complaints Upheld        
Excessive Force Complaints Upheld        
Discrimination Complaints Upheld        
Criminal Misconduct Complaints Upheld        
Approach to Law Enforcement:  56%
Arrest Rate for Low Level Offenses        
Homicides Solved        
Racial Disparities in Drug Arrests        
Jail Incarceration Rate        
Jail Deaths per 1,000        

Key Findings

Police Funding i

29% +3%

Police Funding By Year

$290.9M  |  657,602 Residents  |  $515 per Resident

More Police Funding per Capita than 81% of Depts

Number of officers per 1k population

1,271 Officers  |  19.3 per 10k Residents

More Officers per Population than 55% of Depts

Police violence i

50% +1%

Police Shootings

More Police Shootings per Arrest than 78% of Depts

31 Shootings  |  4.2 every 100k arrests

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Less-Lethal Force

Used More Force per Arrest than 31% of Depts

249 Incidents  |  94 every 10k arrests  |  +273%

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Deadly Force

17 Killings by Police from 2013-21  |  1.5 every 10k arrests

^  More Killings by Police per Arrest than 53% of Depts   

Police Shootings Where Police Did Not Try Non-Deadly Force Before Shooting

77% of Shootings from 2016-21 (24/31)

How Often Police Said a Person had a Gun but No Gun was Found

22% of Guns "Perceived" were Never Found (4/18)

Deadly Force by Armed Status

12% Unarmed  |  47% Did Not Allegedly Have a Gun

Unarmed Other Alleged Gun Vehicle
12%
29%
53%
6%

^  More Unarmed People Killed per Arrest than 51% of Depts   

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Police Violence by Race

Black Latinx N.Am API Other White

Population of Sacramento County

9%
22%
16%
45%

Sacramento County Sheriff's Dept Demographics

17%
10%
66%

People Arrested

31%
16%
6%
45%

People Killed

29%
12%
6%
47%

^  More Racial Disparities in Deadly Force than 80% of Depts   

Police Accountability i

6% -2%

Total civilian complaints

1,545 from 2016-21  |  2% Ruled in Favor of Civilians

 

Complaints Not Sustained Complaints Sustained

Use of Force Complaints

N/A Reported

No Data Found Add Data

Complaints of Misconduct in Jail

416 Reported  |  3% Ruled in Favor of Civilians

 

Complaints Reported Ruled in Favor of Civilians

Complaints of Police Discrimination

65 Reported  |  0% Ruled in Favor of Civilians

 

Complaints Reported Ruled in Favor of Civilians

Alleged Crimes Committed by Police

106 Reported  |  1% Ruled in Favor of Civilians

 

Complaints Reported Ruled in Favor of Civilians

Approach to Law Enforcement i

56% -2%

Arrests By Year

99,332 Arrests Reported from 2013-2021

Low Level Arrests Other Arrests

More Info

Arrests for Low Level Offenses

56,321 Arrests  |  12 per 1k residents

^  Higher Arrest Rate for Low Level Offenses than 47% of Depts   

Percent of total arrests by type

All Arrests for Low Level Offenses ( 57% )

Drug Possession ( 10% )

Violent Crime ( 13% )

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Homicides Unsolved

297 Homicides from 2013-21  |  101 Unsolved

^  Solved Fewer Homicides than 47% of Depts   

Percent of Homicides Unsolved by Race

Homicides of Black Victims Unsolved ( 40% )

Homicides of Latinx Victims Unsolved ( 39% )

Homicides of White Victims Unsolved ( 25% )

Deaths in Jail

30 Deaths from 2013-19  |  16 per 1k Jail Population

Homicide Suicide Other Investigating

10%
30%
60%

^ Higher Rate of Jail Deaths than 75% of Depts   

Jail Incarceration rate

1,857 Avg Daily Jail Population  |  3 per 1k residents

^  More than 40% of Sheriff's Depts  

People Transferred to ICE from 2018-2021

156 people were transferred to ICE

Violent Crime Drug Offenses Other

25%
19%
55%

People in Jail Without Being Convicted

80 % of People in Jail

California Sheriff's Department Scores

Rankings are based upon a 0 to 100 percentage scale. Departments with higher scores use less force, make fewer arrests for low level offenses, solve murder cases more often, hold officers more accountable and spend less on policing overall.

Overall Scores for Depts where We Have Obtained the Most Data.

Grade Scale Tap "show more" to see extended list

* An asterisk indicates this location did not publish enough data to evaluate. Click below to add data to the Scorecard.

About This Scorecard

This is the first nationwide evaluation of policing in the United States. It was built using data from state and federal databases, public records requests to local police departments, and media reports. While police data is never perfect, and there are additional indicators that still need to be tracked, the Police Scorecard is designed to provide insight into many important issues in policing.

 

Police Scorecard is an independent 501(c)(3) organization, learn more about our team here. If you have feedback, questions about the project, or need support with an advocacy campaign, contact our Founder, Samuel Sinyangwe.

methodology Source Data

 

Use this Scorecard to identify issues within police departments that require the most urgent interventions and hold officials accountable for implementing solutions. For example, cities with higher rates of low level arrests could benefit most from solutions that create alternatives to policing and arrest for these offenses. In cities where police make fewer arrests overall but use more force when making arrests, communities could benefit significantly from policies designed to hold police accountable for excessive force. And cities where complaints of police misconduct are rarely ruled in favor of civilians could benefit from creating an oversight structure to independently investigate these complaints.

 

Here's how to start pushing for change

  • Contact Your County Sheriff, share your scorecard with them and urge them to enact policies to address the issues you've identified:
    Advocacy Tip:  This state has a Police Bill of Rights law. These laws make it harder to hold police accountable. Call state legislators and tell them to repeal this law.
  • Look up your state and federal representatives below, then tell them to take action to hold police accountable in your community.