California Police Search Trans People at Double the Rate, Study Finds
California police searched 24% of people they perceived as transgender during stops in 2023. They searched 14% of people they perceived as cisgender men and 8% of people they perceived as cisgender women.
The disparity is documented in a new study from researchers Jordan Grasso and Caro A. Mooney at the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law and the University of California, Irvine. They analyzed 4.6 million pedestrian and vehicle stops reported by California police under the state’s Racial and Identity Profiling Act (RIPA), a 2015 law requiring officers to record their subjective perceptions of every person they stop.
The Data Shows Bias, Not Better Policing
Higher search rates did not produce more contraband. Officers found contraband in 26-27% of searches regardless of perceived gender. Trans people were searched at three times the rate of cisgender women, but the result was the same.
Arrest rates followed the same pattern. Officers arrested 19% of people perceived as transgender men and 20% of people perceived as transgender women during stops. They arrested 10% of cisgender men, 7% of cisgender women, and 9% of gender nonconforming people.
“Police often enforce normative gender expectations, subjecting anyone who is perceived to disrupt these norms, regardless of their actual gender identity, to heightened surveillance and punishment.”
Jordan Grasso, Research Data Analyst, Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law, July 2026
The California findings match national data. A 2024 ACLU study found that 30.7% of transgender people nationally reported having been arrested, and 26.8% reported experiencing physical force by police.
Why RIPA Data Matters for Future Policy
RIPA is one of the only laws in the country that requires officers to record their own perceptions of a person’s gender, not just race and age. That makes California’s dataset uniquely useful for documenting how officer bias shapes outcomes before, during, and after a stop.
Of the 4.6 million stops recorded in 2023, only 17,916 (less than 0.5%) involved someone perceived as transgender or gender nonconforming. That small number still produced a measurable and consistent pattern of disparate treatment. Researchers note this study is one of the first to isolate perceived gender as a variable in police encounter outcomes.
The data gives California legislators, police oversight bodies, and the state Attorney General specific numbers to act on. Without RIPA, none of this would be visible.
What You Can Do Now
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Call the California Attorney General’s office at (916) 210-6276 and ask that the AG use RIPA data to open a formal review of gender-based disparities in policing. The Williams Institute study gives the AG a documented statistical basis to act.
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Contact your California state assemblymember and senator through the California Legislature’s member directory and ask them to introduce or support legislation requiring mandatory bias training based on RIPA findings. Cite the 24% vs. 8% search rate gap as evidence.
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Submit public comment to your city’s police oversight commission. Most major California cities have civilian oversight boards. Find yours through your city’s website and submit the Williams Institute study as part of the public record. Commission records are used in contract negotiations with police unions.
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Share the full study from the Williams Institute with local advocacy organizations, especially those serving trans people of color, who face compounded risk from both racial and gender-based profiling under RIPA data.
Sources
LGBTQ Nation: California Police More Likely to Search and Arrest People They Perceive as Transgender Williams Institute UCLA: RIPA Study on Gender Perception and Police Stops 2023 California DOJ: Racial and Identity Profiling Act Overview and Data ACLU: 2024 National Survey of Transgender People and Police Encounters