That's a higher rate than 72% of US Sheriff Departments.
We obtained data on 58 California sheriff's departments.
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Sheriff's Department
Sonoma County
Scorecard at a Glance
Average for 4 Sections: 31%
Scores range from 0-100% comparing counties with 100-250k 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: 28% | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Police Budget Cost per Person | ||||
| Misconduct Settlements | ||||
| Fines/Forfeitures | ||||
| Police Presence/Over-Policing (Officers per Population) | ||||
| Police Violence: 36% | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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: 12% | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Misconduct Complaints Upheld | ||||
| Excessive Force Complaints Upheld | ||||
| Discrimination Complaints Upheld | ||||
| Criminal Misconduct Complaints Upheld | ||||
| Approach to Law Enforcement: 48% | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arrest Rate for Low Level Offenses | ||||
| Homicides Solved | ||||
| Racial Disparities in Drug Arrests | ||||
| Jail Incarceration Rate | ||||
| Jail Deaths per 1,000 | ||||
Key Findings
8 Killings by Police
220 civilian complaints of police misconduct
5% were ruled in favor of civilians from 2016-21.
33,845 arrests made
58% of all arrests were for low-level, non-violent offenses from 2013-21.
Police Funding By Year
$74.51M | 135,225 Residents | $599 per Resident
More Police Funding per Capita than 91% of Depts
Source: US Census Bureau
Number of officers per 1k population
226 Officers | 16.7 per 10k Residents
More Officers per Population than 53% of Depts
Source: Federal LEOKA Database
Police Shootings
More Police Shootings per Arrest than 44% of Depts
5 Shootings | 2.6 every 100k arrests
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Less-Lethal Force
Used More Force per Arrest than 65% of Depts
431 Incidents | 158 every 10k arrests | ▶-12%
Source: Police Department
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Deadly Force
8 Killings by Police from 2013-21 | 2.1 every 10k arrests
^ More Killings by Police per Arrest than 72% of Depts
Source: Mapping Police Violence
Police Shootings Where Police Did Not Try Non-Deadly Force Before Shooting
80% of Shootings from 2016-21 (4/5)
Source: CA Department of Justice
Deadly Force by Armed Status
38% Unarmed | 75% Did Not Allegedly Have a Gun
Unarmed
Other
Alleged Gun
Vehicle
^ More Unarmed People Killed per Arrest than 90% of Depts
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Police Violence by Race
Black
Latinx
N.Am
API
Other
White
Population of Sonoma County
Sonoma County Sheriff's Dept Demographics
People Arrested
People Killed
^ More Racial Disparities in Deadly Force than 37% of Depts
Source: Uniform Crime Report, Mapping Police Violence, LEMAS
Total civilian complaints
220 from 2016-21 | 5% Ruled in Favor of Civilians
Complaints Not Sustained
Complaints Sustained
Use of Force Complaints
36 Reported | 3% Ruled in Favor of Civilians
Complaints of Misconduct in Jail
65 Reported | 8% Ruled in Favor of Civilians
Complaints Reported
Ruled in Favor of Civilians
Complaints of Police Discrimination
13 Reported | 8% Ruled in Favor of Civilians
Complaints Reported
Ruled in Favor of Civilians
Alleged Crimes Committed by Police
0 Complaints Reported
Arrests By Year
33,845 Arrests Reported from 2013-2021
Low Level Arrests
Other Arrests
More Info
Arrests for Low Level Offenses
19,671 Arrests | 21 per 1k residents
^ Higher Arrest Rate for Low Level Offenses than 69% of Depts
Percent of total arrests by type
All Arrests for Low Level Offenses ( 58% )
Drug Possession ( 22% )
Violent Crime ( 10% )
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Homicides Unsolved
27 Homicides from 2013-21 | 5 Unsolved
^ Solved Fewer Homicides than 63% of Depts
Percent of Homicides Unsolved by Race
Homicides of Latinx Victims Unsolved ( 50% )
Homicides of White Victims Unsolved ( 28% )
Deaths in Jail
10 Deaths from 2013-19 | 9 per 1k Jail Population
Homicide Suicide Other Investigating
^ Higher Rate of Jail Deaths than 36% of Depts
Jail Incarceration rate
1,117 Avg Daily Jail Population | 8 per 1k residents
^ More than 82% of Sheriff's Depts
People in Jail Without Being Convicted
55 % 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.
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.
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
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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.
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Look up your state and federal representatives below, then tell them to take action to hold police accountable in your community.
Join a team of researchers, students, data scientists, activists and organizers working to collect, analyze and use data for justice and accountability.
Create data visualizations and content that raises awareness about solutions to the issues identified by the data.
What's Next
Step 1: COMPLETED
Obtain data on 100 California cities. Refine methodology in response to feedback from communities, researchers and local officials.
Step 2: COMPLETED
Expand to every major law enforcement agency in America and include additional indicators such as police budgets and jail incarceration.
Step 3: IN PROGRESS
Inform data-driven solutions nationwide. Update as new federal, state and local data are collected. Track progress and hold cities accountable to results.