By Joaquin Palomino, San Francisco Chronicle, June 12, 2020
Phelicia Jones was devastated five years ago as she watched a video of five police officers shooting a young black man more than 20 times in San Francisco’s Bayview district after he refused to drop a knife.
The 2015 killing of Mario Woods sparked protests across the Bay Area and reforms within the Police Department. Jones and others hoped to see real shifts in police conduct in San Francisco, but by at least one important measure, little has changed.
In 2019, roughly 45% of police use-of-force incidents in San Francisco involved African Americans, while the group makes up just 5% of the city’s population — though not all incidents involved city residents. Latinos made up 21% of incidents, compared to 15% of the population.
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