African Americans Account For 45 Percent Of Those Cited For Resisting Arrest In San Francisco
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) - Statistics from court records show a huge gap in the rate African Americans are cited for resisting arrest in San Francisco compared to the number of whites.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports, from January 2010 to April 24 of this year, more than 9,600 suspects were cited for resisting arrest and 45 percent of those cited were African American, even though they make up only six percent of the city's population.
That's compared to 39 percent of whites cited for resisting arrest, while making up roughly half of San Francisco's population.
San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi is addressing the huge disparity at a meeting titled "Race and Reform" Wednesday that will also be attended by San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi and District Attorney George Gascon.
His office is defending Meseka Henry, a San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency bus driver, who described her encounter with police this month to the Chronicle.
Henry said she was double-parked outside her apartment in the Mission District when officers pulled up behind her and told her to move. She said as she pulled away, officers followed her and she yelled "Leave me alone, I'm not bothering anyone!" She said police pulled her over and that's when things got physical, as she tells the paper one of the officers took her phone, pulled her hair and pushed her to the ground before arresting her. The encounter left her with bruises and an injured shoulder.
A police spokesperson agreed that Henry was forcibly removed from the car, but said officers were justified because she was belligerent and refused to show them her license and registration.
For his part, Adachi said "the fact that they used force at all against her is unsettling."
Police across the country have been under fire for the deaths of unarmed African American suspects in Ferguson, Missouri, New York and North Charleston, South Carolina.
