This news will be shocking to no one with common sense or the ability to make rational observations. The Department of Justice has found that Black Americans are more likely to experience force or the threat of force from police when compared to whites and Hispanics.
Reports the Washington Post:
The study, which was released Saturday, found that an annual average of 44 million U.S. residents older than 16 had at least one face-to-face contact with police between 2002 and 2011. About 75 percent of those who had encountered force from the police perceived the force to be excessive.
For the purpose of the study, nonfatal force by police officers was defined as anything from shouting and cursing to using an electroshock weapon or pointing a gun. The report “looks at the characteristics of incidents involving force, including the type of contact, type of force used, and whether the contact involved a personal search.”
Of those who had any type of police-initiated contact, a higher percentage of black people than white people or Hispanics experienced the use of nonfatal force during a routine street stop or when the police were investigating a crime.
Such police-initiated stops accounted for more than half of the face-to-face contacts in the study. Among those police-initiated situations, the researchers said, being stopped on the street was more likely to lead to the use of nonlethal force than being stopped in a vehicle.
The study used data collected by Bureau of Justice Statistics’ Police-Public Contact Survey taken in three year increments during a 10-year period.
Considering all the excessive police force, which too often ends in fatalities, that sparked the #BlackLivesMatter movement, it’s a safe bet the DOJ’s report is accurate.
Let us know what you think in the comments.
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Photo: AP Photo/Matt Rourke
