Economics Research on Racial Disparities in Policing
By Felipe Goncalves and Emily Weisburst·June 16, 2020
University of California, Los Angeles
https://econofact.org/economic-research-on-racial-disparities-in-policing
Source:
EconoFact is a non-partisan publication designed to bring key facts and incisive analysis to the national debate on economic and social policies. Launched in January 2017, it is written by leading academic economists from across the country who belong to the EconoFact Network. It is published by the Edward R. Murrow Center for a Digital World at The Fletcher School at Tufts University.
The Facts:
By Felipe Goncalves and Emily Weisburst·June 16, 2020
University of California, Los Angeles
https://econofact.org/economic-research-on-racial-disparities-in-policing
Source:
EconoFact is a non-partisan publication designed to bring key facts and incisive analysis to the national debate on economic and social policies. Launched in January 2017, it is written by leading academic economists from across the country who belong to the EconoFact Network. It is published by the Edward R. Murrow Center for a Digital World at The Fletcher School at Tufts University.
The Facts:
- There are stark racial disparities in policing outcomes in the United States.
- Black civilians consistently make up a disproportionate share of arrests: in 2018, for instance, 27% of all arrests were of Black civilians while Black civilians make up only about 13 percent of the total U.S. population, according to data collected from police departments by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
- These data also show that Black civilians are arrested at over two times the rate of white civilians. The self-reported Police Public Contact Survey (PPCS) offers data from a smaller sample on police interactions beyond arrests. These data show Black individuals made up a much higher share of traffic stops and instances of use of force than would be accounted for by their share of the U.S. population in 2015, the latest available PPCS survey (see chart). While African-Americans and Hispanics were 13% and 17% of the U.S. population, respectively, they comprised 18% and 15% of self-reported street stops, 19% and 17% of arrests, and 20% and 21% of instances of use of force in 2015 according to PPCS data.
- While fatal police use-of-force incidents are not formally tracked by the federal government, the civilian-collected database fatalencounters.org estimates that, since 2015, Black and Hispanic civilians comprise 29% and 17% of instances of fatal use of force. The overall picture provided by aggregate statistics can differ from particular conditions in specific cities. In Minneapolis, the site of George Floyd’s death, nearly 60% of all police shootings since 2008 involved a Black civilian (see here).
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