Modesto police stops doubled in 2024. Who was stopped and why?
.JPG "Modesto Police officer Randy Raduechel cites a driver for speeding on McHenry Avenue in Modesto, Calif., on Thursday, May 5, 2022.")
The Modesto Police Department conducted 21,485 stops in 2024 — more than double from the previous year.
The figures come from the Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory Board’s stop dataset, which compiles information on police stops across California.
Under Assembly Bill 953, all state and local law enforcement agencies that employ peace officers are required to report data on every stop to the California Attorney General annually.
The dataset is detailed, including each stop’s date, time, reason, response and actions taken. It also contains information about the perceived identity characteristics of the person stopped.
Compared to previous years, the form used in 2024 asked officers to be more specific, by identifying whether a stop involved a vehicle, pedestrian or bicycle, and whether the person stopped was unhoused. It also distinguished between force and non-force actions taken by officers.
Filling out this form, which could take anywhere from five to 20 minutes, did not appear to deter MPD from making stops, given the high number reported.
Since 2022, MPD has submitted data on every stop to the state. Though Modesto Police Chief Brandon Gillespie stated previously that software issues affected the department’s data reporting in 2022.
MPD did not respond to requests for comment as of Wednesday afternoon.
Here’s what the 2024 data revealed for MPD.
Race and ethnicity
Officers perceived the majority of individuals they stopped to be Hispanic, though this is proportionate to their population size in Modesto. Black individuals, however, were stopped at twice their population size.
Relative to their share of total stops, Black individuals accounted for the highest percentage of stops that resulted in no action by officers, at 24%, which could mean the stop may have been unwarranted.
About 3% of individuals were perceived to have limited or no English fluency.
Time and place
The highest number of stops occurred in January, while July saw the fewest. Most stops were conducted at 10 p.m.
Most people were stopped in their cars, followed by pedestrian stops.
698 stops occurred during a welfare, wellness check or community care taking. Additionally, 7.3% of stops were of unhoused individuals.
Gender and sexuality
This year’s dataset includes six gender categories: cisgender man/boy, cisgender woman/girl, transgender man/boy, transgender woman/girl, nonbinary person and multigender. Overall, most individuals were perceived as cisgender male (68%) or cisgender female (30%).
Individuals categorized as LGB by MPD made up 1.3% of stops.
The 2022 RIPA report noted that LGBTQ identity is not always visibly apparent, meaning an officer’s perception may be shaped by context. For example, an officer might assume that a driver and passenger are same-sex partners based on social cues or conversation. An individual’s gender expression, including how they dress, behave and interact with others, may also influence how their gender is perceived.
Age and disability
The largest proportion of individuals stopped were perceived to be between ages 25 and 34, making up 30.6% of stops. Those perceived to be between the ages 1 and 14 represented the smallest proportion.
Additionally, less than 1% of individuals stopped were identified as having a disability.
Reason for stop
Twenty percent of stops were made in response to calls for service, such as 911 calls, radio calls or dispatch. That means officers initiated stops a majority of the time.
RIPA regulations require officers to report the primary reason for initiating each stop. If multiple reasons apply, officers must choose the main factor that led to the stop.
The most common reason given for a stop was a traffic violation (62.6%), followed by reasonable suspicion of criminal activity (27.5%).
Reasonable suspicion is a legal standard in criminal law that requires an officer to identify specific facts suggesting that a person is involved in, or likely to be involved in, criminal activity. It goes beyond a mere hunch but is a lower threshold than probable cause, which is required to make an arrest.
The most common reason for reasonable suspicion was an officer witnessing a crime being committed (45.1%), followed by the person matching the suspect description (32.6%).
Result of stop and action taken
The majority of stops resulted in a verbal warning, (27.2%). About 22% of stops did not result in any official action.
There were 4,696 instances of force used, with the most common being handcuffing or flexcuffing the individual. A firearm was pointed 97 times, but was never discharged, according to the data.
Two stops resulted in a referral to Immigrations Customs Enforcement.
Black people made up the highest percentage of use of force instances, compared to their total number of stops.
Searches and seizures
The primary basis for searches was incident to an arrest. The most common reason for property searches is the presence of evidence. The majority of property, contraband or evidence found and seized were drug paraphernalia.
Black individuals accounted for the highest proportion of searches relative to their total number of stops, with 30% of stops involving them resulting in a search.
This story was originally published January 7, 2026 at 2:15 PM.
