KPBS Midday Edition

U-T Series Explores Bias In Policing In San Diego County

By Maureen Cavanaugh / KPBS Midday Edition Co-Host, Brooke Ruth / Senior Producer, Radio News

Published April 13, 2021 at 11:52 AM PDT

This story was published more than 3 years ago.

A San Diego police car parked in downtown San Diego, Oct. 24, 2018.

Even as the trial for the killing of George Floyd continues, new instances of police violence against black men have been in the headlines. An army officer in Virginia is pepper sprayed during a traffic stop, and 20-year old Daunte Wright is killed by police in Minnesota after being pulled over for expired license plates. A series of reports in the San Diego Union Tribune has been exploring bias in policing in our community.

Even as the trial for the killing of George Floyd continues, new instances of police violence against Black men have been in the headlines. An army officer in Virginia is pepper sprayed during a traffic stop, and 20-year-old Daunte Wright is killed by police in Minnesota after being pulled over for expired license plates.

The San Diego Union-Tribune Watchdog investigative reporters Lyndsay Winkley and Lauryn Schroeder have been documenting bias in policing in our community in a three-part series. Their data analysis, which shows who gets stopped, searched or experiences violence at the hands of police and deputies, suggests San Diego law enforcement has a racial bias problem.

Data: San Diego Police And Sheriff’s Deputies Target Minorities

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Winkley joined Midday Edition on Tuesday to discuss the second and third installments of the paper's series exploring police stop data.

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Maureen Cavanaugh

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Maureen Cavanaugh has been a familiar voice for KPBS listeners for more than 15 years, serving in a variety of capacities including announcer, host, and producer. As host of KPBS Midday Edition, Maureen has interviewed a wide range of notables, such as comedienne Sandra Bernhardt, actor John Lequizamo, author Chuck Palahniuk, composer Marvin Hamlisch, artist Robert Irwin, and designer Zandra Rhodes. But of all the interviews Maureen has conducted, her most special was with His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. Before joining KPBS in 1997, she worked as a news anchor for KSDO and KOGO News Radio in San Diego. While working for commercial radio stations in San Diego and in Salt Lake City, Utah, Maureen reported on both hard news and lifestyle features. Maureen has received three "Golden Mike" awards from the Radio and TV News Association of Southern California for economic reporting and breaking news. She has also received a "Best of Show" and “Best Radio Newscast” awards from the San Diego Press Club and the "Flo" Award from Public Radio Program Directors Association for Best Public Radio Announcer in a large market. Maureen is a native of Queens, New York, but after more than 20 years in San Diego she feels she qualifies as a real Southern Californian.

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Brooke Ruth

Brooke Ruth is the senior producer for KPBS Radio News. She previously served as a producer for "KPBS Midday Edition" and a web producer. Before joining KPBS, Brooke was a web editor for four newspapers and a local television station. She began her career in news at the Imperial Valley Press. She has also been part of the web teams at the Napa Valley Register, North County Times, and U-T San Diego. While pursuing her undergraduate degree at UCLA in psychology, she worked on the student newspaper, the Daily Bruin.

See stories by Brooke Ruth