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San Francisco: Sharp rise in jail's black population

Source: SF Chronicle

As San Francisco's population of African American residents has decreased in recent years, the population of black men and women locked up in the San Francisco County Jail has increased dramatically, Sheriff Michael Hennessey said.

More than 60 percent of all prisoners are African American, according to a survey of the city jail's population. And of the 282 female prisoners, 67 percent are black.

A similar study in 1996 found that half of the jail population was African American. A 2005 study put the number at 53 percent.

In contrast, 6.7 percent of San Francisco residents are black - a number that has been in steady decline, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Hennessey said the criminal justice system and the war on drugs are "disproportionately adversely affecting San Francisco's African American community."

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/07/BAGC710I5U.DTL

This article appeared on page B - 6 of the San Francisco Chronicle


Published on: May 7, 2008
Written by: Cecilia M. Vega

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