Studies

Research on racial bias in policing

“In the last decade, approximately 76% of [Oakland’s] homicide victims were black. During that time period, police made arrests in approximately 40% of Oakland homicides involving black victims and approximately 80% of homicides involving white victims."

“Collectively … results … provide suggestive evidence that it is an urge to provide a socially desirable response, not a desire for racial justice, that makes whites less likely to state that shooting is justified when explicit racial cues are present."

“Most official records of who commits crime are really statistics on who gets arrested and convicted. If, as we will show, the police are more likely to arrest some people than others, these official statistics may tell us more about police behavior than about criminals."

“Journalists' tweeting generally sided with police… When they themselves were subject to police action, tweets from the journalists took a more sympathetic turn; breathing the same tear gas seemingly inspired greater sympathy for the protesters and their cause."

“Of the officers responsible for the roughly 13,000 police killings between 2005 and 2018, only about 0.002% were ever convicted of a crime."

“Asserting one’s rights and symbolic resistance were uncommon strategies for both [Black] male and female respondents. This finding is expected given what we know about ‘the talk’—a set of instructions traditionally passed down from black parent to child."

“Unlike arrests for Whites, officers reported a larger and varied set of factors that motivated their contacts and eventual arrests of Blacks.” & “They invoked case law to justify these stops and surveillance on a lower legal basis than that for Whites."

“This project brought 24 young Black men and 14 police officers together for a three-week… intervention.” & “Data failed to capture any significant perception change … by the officers… average ‘neutral’ response when asked about their trust towards young Black men."

“When school districts expand resources for school police, minority students are disciplined more intensively.” & “Relative to White students, Black and Hispanic students are less likely to graduate high school and enroll in college” as a result of school police funding.