Short report
Figure 1 Trends in fatal police shootings by race/ethnicity, 2015 – 2020. (A) All victims, quarterly death rates per million by race/ethnicity. (B) All victims, quarterly years of life lost (YLL) rates per million by race/ethnicity. (C) Unarmed victims, biennial death rates per million by race/ethnicity. (D) Unarmed victims, biennial YLL rates per million by race/ethnicity.
influence. 14 Poor jurisdictional dynamics between states and tribal authorities may also be at play. 15 The persistence of Black – White disparities among unarmed Black victims, in particular, suggests police demilitarisation maybe an ameliorating intervention. The US Military offloads surplus weaponry to local police 16 and use of force policies lack specificity and standardisation. 17 Further, only 16 states require de-escalation training, which would equip officers to distinguish a threat from a civilian in crisis. 18 Militarisation hastens the transition from disproportionate policing to disproportionate mortality. 14 19 Health professionals should help frame police violence against BIPOC as a public health crisis and mobilise policymakers to confront this injustice pursuant to achieving health equity. What is already known on this subject ► Previous cross-sectional studies have demonstrated a disproportionate burden of fatal police shootings based among Black and Hispanic victims in the USA.
cyclist road injuries, 78% of that due to unintentional firearm injuries, 63% of that due meningitis and 57% of that due to maternal death. 2 9 Further, rates of YLL for Black and Native American populations are 3 – 4 times that of the White popula- tion, while rates of YLL for the Asian population are half that of the White population. Previous work posits structural racism as a driver of Black-White disparities in police violence. 10 However, the disparities in fatal police encounters among Black and Native people compared with White people in our study, contrasted with the protective effect of Asian ethnicity, suggests racism alone does not explain our findings. Our findings suggest the influence of an insidious anti-Black and anti-Indigenous logic to police violence that warrants further exploration into the role of these factors in fatal police encounters. 11 12 The literature on the ‘ twin genocidal ’ process of enslavement and land dispossession for Black and Indigenous communities may begin to illuminate the unique but related ways that white supremacy has shaped these groups experiences with policing in North America. 13 The increased likelihood of police encounters in Black neighbourhoods com- pared with White neighbourhoods is another likely
Lett E, et al. J Epidemiol Community Health 2020; 0 :1 – 4. doi:10.1136/jech-2020-215097
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