Journal article
Racial inequity in fatal US police shootings, 2015–2020
Journal of epidemiology and community health (1979), v 75(4), pp 394-397
Apr 2021
PMID: 33109524
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
IntroductionViolent encounters with police represent a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in the USA, especially among Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (BIPOC). This study characterises trends in fatal police shootings overall and by armed status and quantifies inequities in mortality burden and years of life lost (YLL) across racial/ethnic groups.MethodsLongitudinal study of Washington Post data on fatal police shootings in the USA using generalised linear-mixed models to capture trends with time and relative rates.ResultsThis study shows that the rate of fatal police shootings for Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (BIPOC) is constant from 2015 to 2020. Further, BIPOC have significantly higher death rates compared with Whites in the overall victim pool (Native American RR=3.06, Black RR=2.62, Hispanic RR=1.29) and among unarmed victims (Black RR=3.18, Hispanic RR=1.45). Native American (RR=3.95), Black (overall RR=3.29, unarmed RR=3.49) and Hispanic (RR=1.55, unarmed RR=1.55), victims had similarly high rates of YLL relative to Whites.ConclusionFatal police shootings are a public health emergency that contribute to poor health for BIPOC. Urgent attention from health professionals is needed to help drive policy efforts that reduce this unjust burden and move us towards achieving health equity in the US.
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Details
- Title
- Racial inequity in fatal US police shootings, 2015–2020
- Creators
- Elle Lett - Institute for Medical Informatics and BiostatisticsEmmanuella Ngozi Asabor - Yale UniversityTheodore Corbin - Drexel UniversityDowin Boatright - Yale University
- Publication Details
- Journal of epidemiology and community health (1979), v 75(4), pp 394-397
- Publisher
- British Medical Journal (BMJ)
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Health Management and Policy
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000629178400014
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-85095132291
- Other Identifier
- 991019167638104721
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Public, Environmental & Occupational Health