Studies

Research on racial bias in policing

Priming experimental subjects with pictures of apes makes them perceive police violence against Black suspects as more justified than against white suspects. “Participants who were primed with apes thought that the police were more justified in beating the Black suspect."

“Police officers have been shown to possess implicit associations of race and crime and to exhibit spontaneous discriminatory behavior… There is little if any room for doubt that implicit stereotypes of race and crime influence police officers' decisions."

“While most of our respondents said that police occasionally spoke harshly to them, they reported that officers were more apt to direct demeaning and offensive language toward blacks. For example, black study participants said that officers frequently used racial slurs."

“Police stops could also involve psychological violence, typically in the form of name-calling, unnecessary physical threats, and … gratuitous prolonged discomfort… Participants reported that officers referred to their ‘black asses’ and called local women ‘bitches.'"

“Among those who had contact with the police, blacks (3.5%) were 2.5 times more likely than whites (1.4%) and 1.7 times more likely than Hispanics (2.1%) to experience the threat or use of nonfatal force."

“The number of deaths [by police] per million population among non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic males were 2.8 and 1.7 times higher, respectively, than among White males… Fryer’s assessment of disparities in the use of lethal force was possible for only 1 city."

“Our results strongly suggest that officers are more likely to conduct a search if the race of the motorist differs from the race of the officer… Preference-based discrimination plays a substantial role in explaining differences in…[searches of] different racial groups."