Report: Black residents were 1/3 of Bluffton Police arrests but only 7% of population
Black residents made up a third of all arrests by Bluffton Police in 2020 but represent only 7% of the population, according to a new police accountability report.
The report by the Citizens Task Force for Law Enforcement Accountability showed the disparity that exists in the department’s 319 arrests last year as compared to the town’s racial makeup.
White people represent 72% of the population, but 45% of the department’s arrests. Hispanic people, who represent 17% of the population, had 22% of the arrests.
Chief Stephenie Price said the agency has little leeway when it comes to arrests.
“If someone wants to press charges against someone and there is probable cause, we make the arrest. When we respond to a burglary, we have no idea at that time who might be the suspect,” she said in the report.
The grassroots task force, formed after the killing of George Floyd, released its report last week. The group recently finished its reviews of the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office and the Beaufort Police Department.
“There might be several factors at work here,” said Lisa Allen, founder of the task force. “Laws that target specific populations, unintentional bias among White enforcement teams or among those choosing to press charges. Poverty might also play a role.”
Research from the non-partisan Prison Policy Initiative finds that the trend of Black over-representation in arrests holds all over the U.S. It reports that Black residents are also more likely to have multiple arrests, which can have more to do with poverty and mental health than criminality.
“Our analysis confirms that people who are repeatedly arrested and jailed are arrested for lower-level offenses, have unmet medical and mental health needs, and are economically marginalized,” according to the Prison Policy research.
The task force concluded that the discrepancy between arrests of Black residents and their demographics warrants an investigation.
Chief Price noted that Bluffton officers do not cite people for possessing small amounts of marijuana, but they do seize the drugs when found.
“Across the country it has become very difficult to win those cases because marijuana is legal in so many other states.”
Citations and warnings
The task force report found that the more than 2,000 citations, or tickets, last year were slightly more equitable than arrests.
Of 2,193 citations, 22% went to Black residents; half went to white residents; and 23% went to Hispanic residents.
People can receive multiple citations in one encounter.
Data on the 4,346 warnings given by Bluffton cops more closely matches the sizes of the population.
Price said they give warnings rather than citations in a majority of encounters.
“We’ve added two traffic officers. We’re trying to reduce accidents,” she said. “We have a lot of accidents.”
Department diversity
Bluffton’s department of 53 sworn officers is more diverse than other agencies surveyed in Beaufort County, the report said.
The agency is made up of 11% Black officers, 8% Hispanic officers, and 72% white officers.
That’s compared with the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office, which is 93% white, and the Beaufort Police Department, which is 89% white.
“We commend the Bluffton department for achieving more diversity than surrounding forces,” the report said. “However, given the community’s large Hispanic population, this is an opportunity for the department to concentrate on recruiting within that segment of the community.”
Price said the department increased starting salaries for beginning officers to more than $44,000, and increased starting salaries for experienced officers to $46,000.
The report said the department currently has five vacancies.
Use of force and misconduct
The Bluffton Police Department told the task force it had only three instances of use of force in 2020.
In January 2020, Bluffton officer Robert Harman was fired for misconduct after a citizen complaint.
The complaint alleged Harman had “sexual relations with someone he had arrested/transported,” tampered with evidence, impeded a “lawful proceeding” and committed harassment, according to a notice of separation due to misconduct submitted to the S.C. Criminal Justice Academy.
Harman’s case is being investigated by the S.C. Law Enforcement Division.
In June 2020, the FBI told the Bluffton Police Department it was investigating another Bluffton officer, Cody Kirkman, for his takedown of a handcuffed Black man during a 2017 traffic stop.
The department put Kirkman on paid leave, and he has been paid at least $31,000 since then, according to town officials.
Kirkman faces potential criminal liability and has been sued in federal court over the incident.
Both cases predate Chief Price’s arrival.
She said she wants to make “community policing” a priority. Price has asked the Bluffton Town Council for part-time mental health and social work professionals.
“If we get a disturbance call because a couple is screaming at each other, I want to find out why they are fighting,” she said. “If we have social workers available, we can refer them to the right community resources.”
