Resources for quantitative and qualitative information on police violence against black

Americans, research and statistics on reform attempts, and trusted news sources

Statistics

• In 2019, researchers Edwards, Lee, and Esposito published a paper in PNAS and estimated that, based on verified data on police killings from 2013–2018, 1 in 1,000 black boys and men will be killed by the police in their lifetime. For white boys and men, the rate is 39 out of 100,000. (Citylab)

  The study notes, "For young men of color, police use of force is among the leading causes of death."

  

  • (Click to open) About the paper

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General resources

Mapping Police Violence

Mapping Police Violence is one of the best resources for quantitatively understanding police violence, and is regularly used by researchers and journalists.

National Police Violence Map

Some of their statistics:

• In 2019, the police killed 1,099 people. There were only 27 days in 2019 where the police did not kill someone. (Mapping Police Violence)

• Black people are 3x more likely to be killed by the police. When that happens, they are 1.3x more likely to be unarmed, compared to white people killed by the police. (Mapping Police Violence)

  • In 2015, 104 unarmed black people were killed by the police, nearly two a week. (Their names are available here.) Some of their stories:
    • Minneapolis, MN: Officers claimed that Jamar Clark was interfering with emergency responders who were helping an assault victim. Witnesses say that Clark was unarmed and handcuffed when he was shot. No charges.
    • Waller County, TX: Sandra Bland was pulled over at a routine traffic stop. The officer escalated to removing her from the vehicle and physically restraining her. She died in jail. The officer was charged with perjury for lying about what happened when Bland was arrested, but the charges were later dropped.
    • Las Vegas, NV: Keith Childress was being surveilled by the police. When they caught up to him, When police caught up with him, they claimed he had an 'unknown object' in his hand. Assuming it was a gun, they shot him dead. The object turned out to be a cellphone. No charges.
    • Owing Mills, MD: Police entered a condominum after hearing arguing inside and shot Spencer McCain, believing he had a gun. McCain was unarmed. He died at a nearby hospital. No charges.

• 8 of the largest police departments in the US kill black men at a higher rate than the US murder rate. (Mapping Police Violence)

• The level of violent crime in a US city is uncorrelated with the rates of police violence.

  🟥Rate of police killings

  🔷Rate of violent crime

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Vera Institute

The Vera Institute of Justice is a research organization that studies policing and incarceration issues, and works in partnership with local, state, and national government officials (e.g. to pilot programs backed by their research).

One of their early projects, the Manhattan Bail Project, was instrumental in leading to bail reform in NYC and other jurisdictions.

They have a number of resources and also make their data and methodology public. Some projects include: