Studies

Research on racial bias in policing

Found no impact of minority police representation on citizen complaints but a strong effect of police unions: “Percentage [of complaints] sustained for agencies authorizing collective bargaining … was 7%, compared to 15% among those not authorizing collective bargaining."

“Police in schools with predominately students of color are more likely to be focused on discipline, whereas police in schools with predominately White students are more likely to be a part of emergency response teams collaborating in moments of crisis."

“African American adolescents who lived in communities with more White residents became disillusioned with the police more quickly than African American adolescents who resided in more racially integrated or minority-populated communities."

“Racial bias in police use of lethal force appears to be a real and pronounced phenomenon with dire consequences… Bolstering this evidence is the finding that, in 10 known incidents of off-duty officers being fatally shot by on-duty officers, 9 … were Black or Hispanic."

"[Black] respondents noted that police were more apt to respond with violence when suspects inquired about the legality of their actions or directives… [and] believed that the widespread presumption of guilt… served as… justification for inappropriate police behavior."

“Individuals who are male, older, from the South, and maintain more conservative political views are more likely to support the use of force by the police… Racial resentment plays a strong role in predicting support for the use of force by police … among whites."

“We found a positive relationship between segregation and higher levels of [intraracial black homicide rates]… Our analysis revealed that areas of need—those with more extreme white-black residential segregation—displayed generally lower levels of community-policing."

“If… contestation raises the likelihood of police retaliation, then that is the fault of the police, not the civilian… Overreaction to contestation undermines… the civilians' right to be free from state interference [and] their right to participate in governance."