Stop data for 2024 shows policing patterns in Turlock, Ceres, Oakdale and Newman
Stop data was recently released for 2024, showing large increases by Modesto officers and drops from Sheriff’s deputies from the previous year.
The data 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.
Now, here’s what the data shows for the Turlock, Ceres, Oakdale and Newman Police Departments.
Turlock
The Turlock Police Department made 8,134 stops in 2024 — most of which occurred in August. The fewest number of stops was in January. About 21.7% of stops led to no action.
Hispanic and white individuals were stopped the most. However, Black individuals were stopped at double their population size in Turlock and 23% of those stops led to no action.
There were 96 instances of force used and 1,566 searches conducted. Black individuals were searched the most — at 26.6% of their stops.
It’s worth noting that Turlock has a sizable Middle Eastern population due to its Assyrian American community. However, the U.S. Census Bureau does not yet have a separate category for Middle Easterners, meaning they are likely accounted for as white.
RIPA groups Middle Easterners and South Asians into one category. The Bee’s data analysis of the RIPA data groups Asians, Middle Easterners and South Asians, Pacific Islanders, Native Americans and Multiracial individuals into one category, “Asian/Other,” due to their small shares.
As such, the comparison between the population of “Asian/Other” to the number of stops reported by RIPA may not be fully accurate.
Ceres
Ceres officers conducted 6,681 stops in 2024. Most were in July and the fewest were in March. About 11% of stops led to no action.
Hispanic individuals were stopped at the highest rate. Black individuals were stopped at four times their population size in Ceres.
White individuals had 18% of their stops lead to no action — the highest among the other racial groups.
There were 192 instances of force used by Ceres officers in 2024. There were also 230 searches conducted.
Oakdale
The Oakdale Police Department made 4,053 stops in 2024 — most in June and the fewest in January. About 10.6% of stops led to no action.
White individuals were stopped at the highest rate. Black individuals were stopped at double their population size.
The data show that there were 540 instances of force used and 677 searches made.
Newman
Newman, which has the smallest population of the four agencies, naturally had the fewest number of stops — 2,038. About 23.6% of those stops led to no action.
Officers in Newman made the most stops in April and the fewest in October.
Hispanic individuals were stopped at the highest rate. Black individuals were stopped at four times their population size and 29.6% of those led to no action.
Data show 86 instances of force used and 277 searches conducted.
