San Francisco Arrests: Police List All Asians As 'Chinese'

This article comes to us courtesy of The Bay Citizen.

By Shoshana Walter

The San Francisco Police Department, relying on antiquated computer technology, routinely recorded nearly all Asians who were arrested in the city as "Chinese" until this month, department officials said.

Arrest data that included the "Chinese" numbers was released to the public and sent to law enforcement agencies for at least 10 years, contributing to a skewed understanding of who was being arrested by San Francisco police.

The Chinese classifications baffled Asian community leaders who said the lack of statistics about Asian arrests have made it difficult to know where to focus scarce resources and have contributed to a stereotype of most Asian groups as "model minorities" who never commit crimes.

Click over to The Bay Citizen to read the rest of this story.