Sifting through the statistics on race relations, police brutality and individual reports of misconduct can be a daunting task. Data can be twisted to mean whatever you want it to mean. As the debate on the prevalence, solutions and consequences of racism and police brutality rages in America I have seen a variety of memes, stats, and headlines while not necessarily untrue, designed to push a certain narrative. This has been done in both directions, both to amplify and quieten the existence of police malfeasance.
This piece is pretty simple in that I will simply be breaking down the data in a hopefully easy way for you to digest and follow. The goal is to give you the stats and the sources in the most objective way possible so you can come to your own conclusions. Pieces following this one will have a little more opinion and subjectivity to them. Think of this as more of a reference sheet than a blog.
This data is comparing statistics collected for the year 2018. This is a deliberate choice due to a few factors. The first being that although there is 2019 Washington Post Fatal Force and 2019 FBI crime data, other data sources for unemployment, poverty, police forces etc are not always available for the year 2019 and I wanted to compare all stats across the same year
Furthermore, the 2019 Washington Post Fatal Force data is behind a paywall and I would like for readers to be able to access all my sources for free. When it comes to crime and fatal force data, the trends have not changed significantly between 2018 and 2019. In fact, the number of unarmed blacks shot and killed by the police actually went down in 2019 although the overall number of police shootings rose slightly.
So let’s dig into the data.
How many people are shot and killed by the police every year?
In 2018, 992 people were killed by the police, an increase of five from 2017. This is roughly .0003% of the American population.
How many unarmed people are shot and killed by the police every year?
In 2018, 47 unarmed people were shot and killed by police. 5% of deadly police shootings are against unarmed suspects. Whether or not a suspect is unarmed is an important distinction because we are concerned about unjust police killings, a suspect wielding a weapon against a police officer by most people’s standards is no longer an innocent victim of police brutality. An armed suspect is defined as anyone wielding a weapon whether a gun, knife or other. The definition of “unarmed” is fairly conservative. A suspect fleeing the scene with a gun in his car but not actively using or pointing his gun for example, is considered unarmed.
Are more blacks than whites killed by the police every year?
No. In 2018, 451 whites were killed by the police and 229 blacks were killed by the police. Whites make up 45% of those killed by police and blacks make up 23% of those killed by police. In America, a person killed by the police is 2x more likely to be white than black.
Are more unarmed blacks than unarmed whites killed by the police every year?
No. In 2018, 23 unarmed whites were killed by the police and 17 unarmed blacks were killed by the police. Whites make up 50% of unarmed deadly police shootings. Blacks make up 36% of unarmed deadly police shootings. In America, an unarmed person killed by the police is 1.4x more likely to be white than black.
When you account for population distribution, are blacks more likely to be shot and killed by the police than whites?
Yes. Blacks make up 13% of the population but made up 23% of deadly police shootings in 2018. Whites make up 72% of the population but made up 45% of deadly police shootings. In America, a black person is 2.8x more likely than a white person to be killed by the police.
When you account for population distribution, are unarmed blacks more likely to be killed by the police than unarmed whites?
Yes. Black people make up 13% of the population but make up 36% of unarmed deadly police shootings. White people make up 72% of the population but make up 49% of unarmed deadly police shootings. In America, an unarmed black person is 4.1x more likely than an unarmed white person to be killed by the police.
Do blacks commit more overall crime in America?
No. Whites commit 69% of overall crime in America while blacks commit 27% of overall crime in America. In America, a crime is 2.6x more likely to be committed by a white person than a black person.
When you account for population distribution, are blacks more likely to commit crime than whites?
Yes. Blacks make up 13% of the population but commit 27% of the overall crime. Whites make up 72% of the population but commit 69% of the overall crime. In America, a black person is 2.2x more likely to commit a crime than a white person.
Do blacks commit more violent crime in America?
No. Whites commit 59% of violent crime in America. Blacks commit 37% of violent crime in America. In America, a violent crime is 1.6x more likely to be committed by a white person than a black person.
*Violent crime is defined as murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, rape, robbery and aggravated assault.
When you account for population distribution, are blacks more likely to commit a violent crime than whites?
Yes. Blacks make up 13% of the population but commit 37% of violent crime. Whites make up 72% of the population but commit 59% of violent crime. In America, a black person is 3.5x more likely to commit a violent crime than a white person.
Do blacks commit more murders and robberies than whites?
Yes. Blacks commit 54% of murders and robberies. Whites commit 44% of murders and robberies. In America, a robbery or murder is 1.2x more likely to be committed by a black person than a white person.
*We are examining murder and robbery rates separate from the two other violent crimes (rape and aggravated assault) because these are the crimes most likely to lead to a shootout between police and the suspect. Rape is usually reported after the fact and aggravated assault often is as well. Robberies and murders more often than not involve armed suspects whereas rape and aggravated assault do not. Over half of robberies (59%) and over half of murders (93%) make use of a weapon. Less than half of aggravated assault (43%) involves a weapon and there isn’t clear data on how many rapists are armed during the act. Crimes involving armed suspects are more likely to lead to police shootings.
When you account for population distribution, are blacks more likely to commit murders and robberies than whites?
Yes. Blacks make up 13% of the population but commit 54% of the murders and robberies. Whites make up 72% of the population, but commit 44% of the murders and robberies. In America, a black person is 6.8x more likely to commit a murder or robbery than a white person.
When you account for overall criminal activity, are blacks more likely than whites to be killed by the police?
Yes. Black people commit 27% of the overall crime in America but make up 23% of deadly police shootings. White people commit 69% of overall crime in America but make up 45% of deadly police shootings.
*Worth noting is that while the FBI collects crime data in America and the Washington Post collects data on deadly police force, the two organize their data in different ways. The FBI does not categorize “Hispanic” as a race while the Washington Post does. This means the data does not match perfectly when trying to compare crime to deadly shootings. The comparison of the two data sets still gives us a good idea of crime and deadly force trends but isn’t exact. If the FBI categorized crime suspects the same way the Washington Post categorizes those involved with deadly police shootings, we would expect crime percentages to decrease for both white and black populations as Hispanics are forced to choose between white, black, Asian and Native American when reporting their race. White is likely the most common choice for Hispanics given the European influence in South America so we would actually expect white crime rates to decrease for whites the most if Hispanic/Latino was included as a race in the FBI data set. Read more about Hispanic/Latinos perception of their own race/ethnicity here.
The FBI does track ethnicity as either Hispanic or Non-Hispanic but not every reported crime includes information on the suspect’s ethnicity so the data pool that accounts for ethnicity is not complete. This research has brought to light the issue of data collection on the Hispanic/Latino population at large or rather a lack thereof. Hispanic/Latinos are the least armed to back up or refute claims of bias or racism in the justice system, not blacks. Read more about the lack of data on Hispanics/Latinos in the justice system here.
When you account for overall criminal activity, are unarmed blacks more likely than unarmed whites to be killed by the police?
Yes. Blacks commit 27% of overall crime but make up 36% of unarmed deadly police shootings. Whites commit 69% of overall crime but make up 49% of unarmed deadly police shootings.
When you account for violent criminal activity, are blacks more likely than whites to be killed by the police?
No. Whites commit 59% of violent crime but make up 45% of deadly police shootings. Blacks commit 37% of violent crime but make up 23% of deadly police shootings.
When you account for violent criminal activity, are unarmed blacks more likely than unarmed whites to be killed by the police?
Yes. Blacks commit 37% of violent crime but make up 36% of unarmed deadly police shootings. Whites commit 59% of violent crime but make up 49% of unarmed deadly police shootings.
When you account for rates of murder and robbery are blacks more likely than whites to be killed by the police?
No. Blacks commit 54% of murders and robberies and make up 23% of deadly police shootings. Whites commit 44% of murders and robberies and make up 45% of deadly police shootings.
When you account for rates of murder and robbery are unarmed blacks more likely than unarmed whites to be killed by the police?
No. Blacks commit 54% of murders and robberies and make up 36% of unarmed deadly police shootings. Whites commit 44% of murders and robberies and make up 49% of unarmed deadly police shootings.
When you account for the percentage of the overall black American population in said state, are blacks more likely to be shot by the police? In other words, are blacks more likely to be shot in states with more black people?
Yes, the more black people in the state, the more deadly black police shootings, but this number is proportionate. Not one state is over or underrepresented in a statistically significant way in regards to the number of black shootings in said state after accounting for the percent of black Americans living in said state. In other words, a state with 5% of the black population claims about 5% of the black shootings, a state with 3% of the black population claims about 3% of the black shootings and so on and so forth.
Are blacks more likely to be killed by the police in states where blacks make up a higher percentage of said state’s population.
No. A higher density of blacks within a state is not correlated with an increase in deadly police shootings. In other words, states with more black people incur more black shootings, but states where the black population is closer to the white population do not see an increase in deadly police shootings after accounting for overall black population.
*Still confused? First, let’s explain the difference between overall population vs population density. Texas has more black people living in it than any other state at 3,936,669 but because Texas is such a large state, that number is only 14% of the state’s population. Delaware has far fewer blacks at 239,727, but since it’s such a small state that number accounts for 25% of the state’s population. So Texas has a larger percentage of overall blacks in America living there (9%) but Delaware’s individual population has a higher concentration or density of blacks (25%).
Second, why might this matter? It was thought that perhaps overall populations and/or population densities would affect race relations either improving or worsening. Perhaps folks are less likely to be racist in states where they are more likely to interact with black people. On the flip side, perhaps larger populations of blacks would create more racial tension due to increased stereotyping or some other built up prejudice. Perhaps blacks coming closer to outnumbering whites in a state would result in more prejudice and hence more shootings, or vice versa.
While as the population of blacks in a state goes up the number of shootings go up, the number of shootings is reflective of the black population so no correlation with increased racism is found. Black population density appears to have no effect, neither increasing or decreasing the number of shootings after accounting for the overall number of blacks in said state.
As the black unemployment rate goes up, are blacks more likely to be killed by the police?
No. There appears to be no correlation between black unemployment and deadly police shootings.
As the white unemployment rate goes up, are blacks more likely to be killed by the police?
No. There appears to be no correlation between white unemployment and deadly police shootings.
As the overall state unemployment rate goes up, are blacks more likely to be killed by the police?
No. There appears to be no correlation between state unemployment and deadly police shootings.
As the black poverty rate goes up, are blacks more likely to be killed by the police?
No. There appears to be no correlation between the black poverty rate and deadly police shootings.
As the white poverty rate goes up, are blacks more likely to be killed by the police?
No. There appears to be no correlation between the white poverty rate and deadly police shootings.
As the overall state poverty rate goes up, are blacks more likely to be killed by the police?
No. There appears to be no correlation between the state poverty rate and deadly police shootings.
Is the percentage of conservative and/or liberal citizens in a state correlated with more blacks being killed by the police?
No. There appears to be no correlation between state political leanings and deadly police shootings.
*Worth noting is that due to time constraints, I did not dig into rural police shootings vs rural shootings enough to make any sort of statement on the nature of policing in those areas. After a short stint researching it does appear that city police shootings are declining while rural/suburban police shootings have risen. Interestingly, the increase in rural shootings is affecting whites more than blacks. Whites see higher rates of fatal police shootings in rural areas as opposed to urban areas.
We also know that out of the 100 largest cities in America, 29% are run by Republicans while 71% are run by Democrats. This includes cities that recently have come under fire for supposed police racism such as Chicago, Baltimore, Atlanta, Minneapolis, Louisville and Cleveland, all of which have Democrat mayors. So while I do not have enough data to conclude that the political leanings of a state affect police shootings, blacks are shot and killed at higher rates in cities which are run overwhelmingly by Democrats. It would be unwise to rule out any kind of political correlation with fatal police shootings involving blacks at this time. Alas, a project for another day.
Is a legacy of racism correlated with more blacks being killed by the police?
No. There appears to be no correlation between the past existence of Jim Crow laws and deadly police shootings.
*Some states have a perception (whether true or not) of being particularly hostile for blacks given their history of racism. This question was designed to see if that history did have an effect on the rates at which blacks are killed by police. I defined “Legacy of Racism” as any state that had Jim Crow Laws. These states were Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Wyoming and Washington D.C. While most, if not all states had laws against consorting with members of another race, the states listed above are thought to have taken things a step further than the average state.
In order to confirm or reject correlation I ran a simple regression comparing Jim Crow to non-Jim Crow states while accounting for all the other state statistics already discussed. The Probability or “P” value was more than .05 meaning there appears to be no correlation. You can see this as a table in the sources section.
When you account for population distribution, what types of crimes are whites extremely underrepresented in? (Crime occurrence amongst whites between 31 and 40 percentage points below overall white population percentage.)
Gambling.
When you account for population distribution, what types of crimes are whites very underrepresented in? (Crime occurrence amongst whites between 21 and 30 percentage points below overall white population percentage.)
Robbery, murder/nonnegligent manslaughter.
When you account for population distribution, what types of crimes are whites underrepresented in? (Crime occurrence amongst whites between 11 and 20 percentage points below overall white population percentage.)
Weapons possession, prostitution, curfew/loitering.
When you account for population distribution, what types of crimes are whites slightly underrepresented in? (Crime occurrence amongst whites between 6 and 10 percentage points below overall white population percentage.)
Aggravated assault, embezzlement, stolen property, disorderly conduct, motor vehicle theft, fraud.
When you account for population distribution, what types of crimes are whites not under or overrepresented in? (Crime occurrence amongst whites plus or minus 5 percentage points of overall white population percentage.)
Forgery/counterfeiting, larceny, offenses against family/children, vandalism, burglary, rape, drug abuse, vagrancy, arson, sex offenses other than rape/prostitution, drunkenness.
When you account for population distribution, what types of crimes are whites slightly overrepresented in? (Crime occurrence amongst whites between 6 and 10 percentage points above overall white population percentage.)
Liquor Laws, driving under the influence.
When you account for population distribution, what types of crimes are whites overrepresented in? (Crime occurrence amongst whites between 11 and 20 percentage points above overall white population percentage.)
None.
When you account for population distribution, what types of crimes are whites very overrepresented in? (Crime occurrence amongst whites between 21 and 30 percentage points or higher above overall white population percentage.)
None.
When you account for population distribution, what types of crimes are whites extremely overrepresented in? (Crime occurrence amongst whites between 31 and 40 percentage points or higher above overall white population percentage.)
None.
When you account for population distribution, what types of crimes are whites exceptionally overrepresented in? (Crime occurrence amongst whites between 41 and 50 percentage points or higher above overall white population percentage.)
None.
What are the most and least common crimes committed by whites?
The most common crime committed by whites is drug abuse while the least is gambling.
What are the most and least common crimes committed by blacks?
The most common crime committed by blacks is drug abuse while the least is gambling.
When you account for population distribution, what types of crimes are blacks extremely underrepresented in? (Crime occurrence amongst blacks between 31 and 40 percentage points below overall black population percentage.)
None.
When you account for population distribution, what types of crimes are blacks very underrepresented in? (Crime occurrence amongst blacks between 21 and 30 percentage points below overall black population percentage.)
None.
When you account for population distribution, what types of crimes are blacks underrepresented in? (Crime occurrence amongst blacks between 11 and 20 percentage points below overall black population percentage.)
None.
When you account for population distribution, what types of crimes are blacks slightly underrepresented in? (Crime occurrence amongst blacks between 6 and 10 percentage points below overall black population percentage.)
None.
When you account for population distribution, what types of crimes are blacks not under or overrepresented in? (Crime occurrence amongst blacks plus or minus five percentage points of overall black population percentage.)
Liquor laws, driving under the influence, drunkenness.
When you account for population distribution, what types of crimes are blacks slightly overrepresented in? (Crime occurrence amongst blacks between 6 and 10 percentage points above overall black population percentage.)
None.
When you account for population distribution, what types of crimes are blacks overrepresented in? (Crime occurrence amongst blacks between 11 and 20 percentage points or higher above overall black population percentage.)
Sex offenses other than rape and prostitution, vagrancy, arson, drug abuse, rape, offenses against family/children, vandalism, burglary, larceny, forgery/counterfeiting, disorderly conduct, fraud, motor vehicle theft.
When you account for population distribution, what types of crimes are blacks very overrepresented in? (Crime occurrence amongst blacks between 21 and 30 percentage points or higher above overall black population percentage.)
Aggravated assault, stolen property, embezzlement, prostitution, curfew/loitering, weapons possession.
When you account for population distribution, what types of crimes are blacks extremely overrepresented in? (Crime occurrence amongst blacks between 31 and 40 percentage points or higher above overall black population percentage.)
Gambling, murder/nonnegligent manslaughter.
When you account for population distribution, what types of crimes are blacks exceptionally overrepresented in? (Crime occurrence amongst blacks between 41 and 50 percentage points above overall black population percentage.)
Robbery.
Are there any population distribution verse crime occurrence discrepancies in other racial groups worth noting?
Asians – No major discrepancies. The most common crime committed by Asians is driving under the influence while the least is arson.
Hispanics/Latinos – When accounting for population distribution, overrepresented in rape arrests. The most common crime committed by Hispanic/Latinos is drug abuse while the least common is gambling.
Native American – No major discrepancies. Most common crime committed by Native Americans is drunkenness while the least is gambling.
Pacific Islander – No major discrepancies. Most common crime committed by Pacific Islanders is driving under the influence while the least is embezzlement.
In America, the most common crime committed are those related to drug abuse offenses while the least common crime committed are those relating to gambling.
Are more blacks murdered than whites?
No. In 2018, 3,315 whites were homicide victims and 2,925 blacks were homicide victims. Whites make up 50% of homicide victims while blacks make up 45% of homicide victims. In America, a victim of homicide is 1.1x more likely to be white than black.
When you account for population distribution, are blacks more likely than whites to be murdered?
Yes. Blacks make up 13% of the population and make up 45% of homicide victims. Whites make up 72% of the population and make up 50% of homicide victims. In America, black people are 5x more likely to be murdered than white people.
Do blacks kill more black people than whites kill black people?
Yes. In 2018, blacks killed 2,600 blacks while whites killed 234 blacks. In America, a black murder victim is 11.1x more likely to have been killed by a black person than a white person.
When you account for population distribution, are blacks more likely than whites to kill blacks?
Yes. Blacks make up 13% of the population and are responsible for 89% of black murders. Whites make up 72% percent of the population and are responsible for 8% of black murders. In America, a black person is 61.6x more likely than a white person to murder a black person.
Do whites kill more white people than blacks kill white people?
Yes. In 2018, whites killed 2,677 whites while blacks killed 514 whites. In America, a white murder victim is 5.2x more likely to have been killed by a white person than a black person.
When you account for population distribution, are whites more likely than blacks to kill whites?
Yes, although both races are overrepresented. Whites make up 72% of the population and are responsible for 81% of white murders. Blacks make up 13% of the population and are responsible for 16% of white murders. In America, a white person is .9x more likely than a black person to murder a white person.
Do blacks kill more whites than whites kill blacks?
Yes. In 2018, blacks killed 514 whites while whites killed 234 blacks. In America, blacks kill 2.2x more whites than whites kill blacks.
When you account for population distribution, are blacks more likely to murder whites than whites murder blacks?
Yes. Blacks make up 13% of the population and are responsible for 16% of white murders. Whites make up 72% percent of the population and are responsible for 8% of black murders. In America, a black person is 11.1x more likely to murder a white than a white murder a black.
Are black cops underrepresented in police forces?
No. Blacks make up 13% of the population and account for 13% of police officers in America.
Are white cops overrepresented in police forces?
Yes. Whites make up 72% of the population but make up 77% of police officers in America.
What race is underrepresented in police forces?
Asian. Asians account for 6% of the population but make up 3% of police officers in America. The data is unclear on Hispanic/Latino representation due to the definitions of race vs ethnicity but they are likely underrepresented.
Are blacks underrepresented in justice and public order departments?
No. Blacks are 13% of the population and account for 16% of those employed in justice, public order and safety activities. Blacks are overrepresented in justice, public order and safety departments in America.
Are whites overrepresented in justice and public order departments?
Yes. Whites make up 72% of the population but account for 79% of those employed in justice, public order and safety activities.
What race is underrepresented in justice and public order departments?
Asians and Hispanic/Latinos. Asians are 6% of the population but make up 3% of those employed in justice, public order and safety activities. Hispanics/Latinos are 18% of the population and account for 13% of those employed in justice, public order and safety activities.
Are white cops more likely than black cops to be feloniously killed?
Yes. White cops make up 77% of police forces but make up for 84% of police deaths. Black cops make up 13% of police forces and account for 13% of police deaths. In America, a white cop is 1.1x more likely than a black cop to be feloniously killed.
Do blacks kill more cops than whites?
No. In 2018, whites killed 31 cops and blacks killed 23 cops. In America, a cop is 1.3x more likely to be feloniously killed by a white person than killed by a black person. Since 2009 there has been one year in which blacks killed more cops than whites.
*This data only looks at known offenders. Cops that are killed by an offender who gets away and has an unknown racial identity are not included in this analysis.
When you account for population distribution are blacks more likely to kill cops than whites?
Yes. Blacks are 13% of the population but account for 42% of cop killers. Whites are 72% of the population and account for 56% of cop killers. In America, a black person is 4.2x more likely to kill a cop than a white person.
When you account for criminal activity are blacks more likely than whites to kill cops?
Yes. Blacks commit 27% of overall crime and account for 42% of cop killers. Whites commit 69% of overall crime and account for 56% of cop killers.
Is a cop more likely to be killed in the line of duty than a black person is likely to be killed by a cop?
Yes. About .007% of the roughly 800,000 cops in America are feloniously killed while .0006% of blacks in America are killed by cops every year. When it comes to unarmed killings, .00004% of blacks are killed by the cops while unarmed. In America, a cop is 11.7x more likely to be killed in the line of duty than a black person is likely to be killed by a cop.
Is a cop more likely to be killed by a black person than a black person is likely to be killed by a cop?
Yes. About .003% of cops are killed by blacks each year while .0006% of blacks are killed by cops every year. When it comes to unarmed killings, .00004% of blacks are killed by the cops while unarmed. In America, a cop is 5x more likely to be killed by a black person than a black person is likely to be killed by a cop.
Are white cops more likely to kill minorities than non-white cops?
No. As the percentage of black or hispanic officers involved in a fatal shooting increases, the greater likelihood that the person fatally shot is black or hispanic. Black and hispanic civilians are more likely to be shot by same-race police officers than white police officers. Read more about the racial differences in police vs civilians here.
How often does just one officer fire their weapon in fatal shootings?
56% of the time.
Summary
- Blacks are overrepresented in deadly police shootings but they are also overrepresented in the number of violent crimes they commit. In particular, a black person is 6.8x more likely to commit a murder or robbery than a white. Murder and robbery are the two crimes most likely to involve a weapon and therefore lead to a shootout with police.
- Whites commit more overall crime than blacks but the type of crime whites commit trend significantly different than blacks. When comparing fatal shootings to overall crime rates it appears there may be a bias amongst police because blacks are overrepresented. But when looking specifically at crime that is most likely to lead to fatal force by the police blacks are actually very underrepresented (by 31 percentage points) in deadly police shootings while whites are not.
- There is not adequate crime data on Hispanics/Latinos.
- States with more black people do not see disproportionate rates of deadly police shootings of blacks.
- Poor economic status (statewide) does not lead to more deadly police shootings of blacks.
- Political leanings of a state is not correlated with deadly police shootings of blacks. Unknown for cities and rural areas.
- A history of Jim Crow is not correlated with deadly police shootings of blacks.
- Blacks are more likely than whites to murder their own race, another race and/or cops. Whites are more likely to be killed by blacks than blacks by whites.
- Blacks are proportionately represented in the justice system (to include police forces) while whites are slightly overrepresented. Asians and Hispanics/Latinos are underrepresented.
- Cops are more likely to be killed by blacks or by any race than blacks are likely to be killed by cops.
- White cops are not more likely to kill blacks than black cops.
Sources
In order of appearance…
Deadly Police Shootings – https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/national/police-shootings-2018/
Population Statistics – https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=2018%20population&tid=ACSDP1Y2018.DP05&y=2018
Crime Data – https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2018/crime-in-the-u.s.-2018/tables/table-43
Hispanic Racial Identity – https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2015/06/11/chapter-7-the-many-dimensions-of-hispanic-racial-identity/
Lack of Criminal Data on Hispanics/Latinos – http://apps.urban.org/features/latino-criminal-justice-data/
Black Population by State – https://blackdemographics.com/population/black-state-population/
Black Unemployment/Poverty Rate – https://www.jec.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/a57b90a0-382a-4d4f-91a4-fd2b40e168a7/economic-state-of-the-black-community.pdf
Washington DC Poverty Rate – https://talkpoverty.org/state-year-report/district-of-columbia-2018-report/
State Poverty Rates – https://www.epi.org/blog/poverty-continues-to-fall-in-most-states-though-progress-appears-to-be-slowing/
State Unemployment Rates – http://www.dlt.ri.gov/lmi/laus/us/annavg.htm
State Political Leanings – https://news.gallup.com/poll/247016/conservatives-greatly-outnumber-liberals-states.aspx
Washington D.D. Political Leanings – https://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/metro-area/washington-dc-metro-area/party-affiliation/
Cities vs Rural Police Shootings – https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/police-are-killing-fewer-people-in-big-cities-but-more-in-suburban-and-rural-america/
Police Shootings by Rurality – https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0091743520300700
Mayor Data – https://ballotpedia.org/List_of_current_mayors_of_the_top_100_cities_in_the_United_States
Homicide Data – https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2018/crime-in-the-u.s.-2018/tables/expanded-homicide-data-table-6.xls
Police Officer Data – https://datausa.io/profile/soc/police-officers
Justice and Public Order Departments – https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat18.htm
Police Deaths – https://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/fbi-releases-2018-statistics-on-law-enforcement-officers-killed-in-the-line-of-duty
Officer Characteristics in shootings – https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/national/police-shootings-2018/
Empirical Analysis of Racial Differences – https://scholar.harvard.edu/fryer/publications/empirical-analysis-racial-differences-police-use-force
Tables
I compared characteristics of states to the number of fatal shootings of blacks by the police in search for correlation.
The regression above controls for all the state data points I collected. Only one, number of blacks or black population in said state appear to be correlated with police shootings. This makes sense as we would expect to see more police shootings involving blacks, the more black people there are in a state. That being said, the correlation between black population and deadly black shootings was proportionate i.e. states with 5% of the nation’s blacks incurred 5% of deadly black shootings.
