Work

Racial/Ethnic Disparities in the Use of Lethal Force by US Police, 2010–2014

Year: 2016

Type: article

Abstract: OBJECTIVES: To update previous examinations of racial/ethnic disparities in the use of lethal force by US police. METHODS: I examined online national vital statistics data for deaths assigned an underlying cause of "legal intervention" (International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, external-cause-of-injury codes Y35.0-Y35.7, excluding Y35.5 [legal execution]) for the 5-year period 2010 to 2014. RESULTS: Death certificates identified 2285 legal intervention deaths (1.5 per million population per year) from 2010 to 2014. Among males aged 10 years or older, who represented 96% of these deaths, the mortality rate among non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic individuals was 2.8 and 1.7 times higher, respectively, than that among White individuals. CONCLUSIONS: Substantial racial/ethnic disparities in legal intervention deaths remain an ongoing problem in the United States.

Source: American Journal of Public Health

DOI: 10.2105/ajph.2016.303575

Author: James W. Buehler

Institution: Drexel University

Language: English

Topic: Policing Practices and Perceptions

Subfield: Political Science and International Relations

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Peace, justice, and strong institutions, Good health and well-being, Reduced inequalities

Open Access status: green

Funder: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services