In February of this year, the San Francisco Police Commission enacted a policy prohibiting officers from using minor “pretextual” stops to detain drivers. This initiative aims to reduce the frequency of police stops involving people of color.
The issue gained added attention following the tragic suicide of a police officer who had issued the most traffic citations in San Francisco. After self-reporting discrepancies regarding the racial background of citation recipients, he became the focus of an investigation into whether officers were falsifying reports to address concerns around racial profiling. The investigation remains ongoing, despite his passing.
According to an analysis by the San Francisco Standard, Officer Rene Vig Nielsen reported that of the 1,139 individuals he stopped between 2018 and 2021, only six were non-white. He informed investigators that it is not possible to determine a person’s race solely based on appearance, asserting that he was not required to classify individuals’ races, even if directly instructed. This meant that all individuals he stopped were recorded as belonging to the same racial group.
A report released by police investigators in June 2024 concluded that Nielsen’s actions caused irreparable harm to the integrity of the SFPD’s Racial and Identity Profiling Act (RIPA) reports, which mandate the collection of driver racial data at traffic stops. While the report does not name Nielsen, the Standard confirmed that he was the officer referenced. Investigators found that Nielsen violated department policy by making false statements and failing to comply with orders.
Tony Montoya, the former president of the San Francisco Police Officers Association, condemned Nielsen’s actions as nothing short of lying, stating, “Dishonesty is dishonesty, no matter how you frame it.”
An insider revealed that Nielsen’s conduct constituted grounds for termination. Even if he had retained his position, any officer implicated in similar misconduct would be barred from testifying in court, given the potential for their credibility to be called into question.
Although Nielsen died by suicide in September, San Francisco continues to investigate allegations of inaccurate racial reporting. Meanwhile, the police department stated that its multi-year reform efforts are nearing completion, with the goal of addressing racial disparities in various policing activities, from traffic citations to the use of force.
Nielsen recorded this inaccurate information in a data system used by police statewide. Under the 2015 RIPA, all officers are required to log the racial identity of every driver they stop. In many cases, it was reported that Nielsen failed to communicate with dispatch during traffic stops and did not create proper stop records. Investigators could have relied on these records to verify his conduct.
This new policy enacted by the San Francisco Police Commission aims to eliminate the use of pretextual stops, particularly in efforts to reduce the disproportionate number of stops involving people of color, who are statistically more likely to be stopped compared to their white or Asian counterparts, according to state data.
