SAN FRANCISCO -- In a comprehensive report on racial profiling in San Francisco, the ACLU of Northern California found that the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) is failing to "adequately address the issue of racial profiling."

In a report entitled "A Department in Denial - The San Francisco Police Department's Failure to Address Racial Profiling" the ACLU analyzed the first full year of data collected by SFPD officers and found that:

"This report clearly shows that the San Francisco Police Department is failing to take the issue of racial profiling seriously and is not to complying with basic directives of the Police Commission that were mandated over three years ago. San Francisco deserves better. The Department's consistent failure shows the need for a clear policy prohibiting racial profiling and an independent auditor to oversee the data collection program," said Mark Schlosberg, Police Practices Policy Director for the ACLU of Northern California.

The report analyzes traffic stop data collected by the SFPD, and obtained by the ACLU through Public Record Act requests, from July 1, 2001 through June 30, 2002. The analysis looks at how often and why motorists of different races are stopped as well as how motorists are treated once the decision to stop them has been made.

The ACLU makes a series of recommendations that include a clear definition of racial profiling; prohibiting racial profiling by law enforcement; banning pretext stops; prohibiting consent searches; establishing an independent auditor to oversee the data collection program; and holding supervisors and officers accountable.