Study: Police Use-Of-Force Racial Bias Exists, But Not When It Comes To Shootings
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A narrative has been created in the United States. It lends itself to the notion that African Americans are shot and killed at a greater rate than that of white Americans.
The events of recent days, the killings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, have once again brought this narrative to the forefront.
However, do the numbers fit the narrative?
The answer to that question was what a group of researchers looked to find out. The study, led by Harvard professor Ronald G. Fryer Jr., examined police use of force including shootings and other physical interactions with civilians.
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The study claims that it found evidence of police bias among races when it came to uses of force such as use of hands, pepper spray and the drawing of weapons, but not when it came to shootings.
10 major police departments in Texas, Florida and California were studied, along with other compiled data sets, but the study did note that the availability of statistics on force, did make studying the subject difficult.
It explained that much of the data came from departments that willingly shared it, meaning that they could be more likely to have little to hide in their numbers.
It also stated that many departments do not keep statistics on police use of force and shootings.
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The study noted that African-Americans and Hispanics are more than 50 percent more likely to have an interaction with police that involves force and that African-Americans are 21.3 percent more likely than white Americans to get in a situation with police where a weapon is drawn.
Despite these numbers, the study notes that there seems to be no racial difference when it comes down to police involved shootings.
Click here to read the full study.
