Is there racial bias in police killings in the United States?
There is evidence suggesting racial bias in police killings in the United States, though the extent and interpretation of this bias remain subjects of intense public debate[1].
Public Discourse on Racial Bias in Police Killings
The question of racial bias in police killings has been a central issue in American public discourse, particularly following high-profile incidents like the death of George Floyd in 2020, which sparked widespread protests and a national reckoning on race and policing. During this period, often referred to as the "great awokening," the topic of police shootings surged in media coverage and public conversation, as evidenced by the increased mention of "police shootings" in American books and media from 2016 onward. Despite the heightened attention, data indicates that fatal police shootings have not decreased; in fact, they have risen every year since 2016, suggesting that public outcry and policy discussions have not yet translated into reduced incidents[1].
A key point of contention in the discourse is whether police disproportionately target certain racial groups, particularly Black men. Upcoming research by political scientists Tom S. Clark, Adam N. Glynn, and Michael Leo Owens, as detailed in a University of Chicago press release, argues that their new database demonstrates bias against young Black men in police shootings. While the specifics of their unpublished book, Deadly Force: Police Shootings in Urban America, are not yet fully public, their findings align with narratives that have fueled movements like Black Lives Matter, which emerged following events in Ferguson in 2014. However, comparing their teased results to The Washington Post’s “Fatal Force” database—a widely cited resource on police shootings—reveals discrepancies in data collection and interpretation. The Post’s database, which focuses on firearm-related killings since 2014, shows that 88.2% of fatal shootings from 2018 to 2023 involved suspects who were armed or had replicas of weapons, while only 4.9% were unarmed. The discrepancy between the researchers’ claim of limited data on whether suspects were armed (available in only 3 out of 10 cases) and the Post’s higher reporting rate raises questions about methodology and data reliability[1].
Public discourse also grapples with the definition of "unarmed" and the context of lethal force. Critics of police actions argue that even unarmed individuals, like Michael Brown in Ferguson, are often portrayed as threats to justify deadly force, while defenders of law enforcement point to the complexity of split-second decisions in dangerous situations. Cases involving ambiguous circumstances—such as whether driving a car constitutes a threat—further complicate the narrative. Additionally, systemic issues like underreporting by police departments contribute to distrust; about 100 out of 300 major U.S. police departments refused to provide records on shootings, citing vague legal provisions or claiming a lack of data. This opacity fuels public skepticism about official accounts and reinforces calls for transparency and accountability[1].
On the other side of the debate, some analyses suggest that broader factors, such as violent crime rates and neighborhood poverty, correlate more strongly with police shootings than race alone. Research highlighted in the source indicates that cities with higher violent crime see more police shootings, while larger, better-resourced police departments experience fewer, possibly due to enhanced capacity to de-escalate confrontations without lethal force. This perspective suggests that structural issues, rather than individual bias, may play a significant role in outcomes, though it does not negate the racial disparities observed in the data[1].
The public conversation remains polarized, with media coverage often amplifying specific cases based on racial dynamics—incidents involving white victims, for instance, tend to receive less national attention than those involving Black individuals. Personal anecdotes and localized stories, such as the shooting of a white driver in a California parking lot that resulted in a $3 million settlement but minimal media coverage, underscore how race can shape narratives and public perception of police violence[1].
Sources
- [1] Bullet Proof - Taki's Magazine (https://www.takimag.com/article/bullet-proof/) - This source, authored by Steve Sailer, presents a skeptical view of claims of widespread racial bias in police killings, emphasizing data from The Washington Post’s “Fatal Force” database and questioning the methodology of forthcoming academic research claiming bias against Black men. It also highlights systemic issues like underreporting by police and correlates police shootings with violent crime and poverty rather than race alone.