More than 100 arresting agencies bring detainees to the Washoe County Detention Facility, to include the Reno and Sparks police departments, Washoe County Sheriff’s Office, several tribal police departments, University of Nevada Reno Police and Nevada Highway Patrol.
The information represented in the graphs below reflects data collected between June 4, 2019 and June 4, 2020, a total of 15,001 bookings.
Several federal law enforcement agencies, to include the Drug Enforcement Agency and Federal Bureau of Investigation, temporarily house detainees at the Detention Facility. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency or ICE also has a presence at the jail. Over the one-year period, records indicate ICE detained at total of 15 individuals, 14 men and 1 woman.
The Ally extends a special thanks to the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office for providing this data. We would also like to thank Diana Adams and Wendy Calvin for essential assistance organizing and analyzing the information.
All Bookings
According to the latest Census data, African Americans makeup 2.8 percent of the Washoe County population. Our analysis shows that Blacks madeup 12.9 percent of all regional arrests over the one-year period.
Of the top 7 police agencies to bring arrestees to the Detention Facility, Reno PD arrests more than the other 6 leading agencies combined.
Reno Police Department
According to the latest Census data, African Americans makeup 2.7 percent of the Reno population and 16.2 percent of all Reno PD arrests .
Sparks Police Department
Like in Reno, a disparity exists between the percentage of Black citizens in Sparks and percentage of Black arrests. African Americans makeup 2.5 percent of the Sparks population and 11.4 percent of all arrests.
Washoe County Sheriff’s Office
According to the latest Census data, African Americans makeup 2.8 percent of the Washoe County population and 7.8 percent of all WCSO arrests.
Nevada Highway Patrol
According to the latest Census data, African Americans makeup 2.8 percent of the Washoe County population and 9.5 percent of NHP bookings in the Washoe County Detention Facility. Also note, Asians makeup 5.8 percent of the Washoe County population and 1.2 percent of NHP bookings in the Detention Facility.
University of Nevada Reno Police
African Americans makeup 2.7 percent of Reno’s population and 11.4 percent of all UNR PD arrests. Also note Asians makeup 6.5 percent of the Reno population and 13.3 percent of UNR PD arrests.
Brian Bahouth is the editor of the Sierra Nevada Ally. Support his data journalism.
