Fewer Blacks Killed In Cities With More African-American Police Officers

Research reveals rare shootings of people of color at the hands of Black police

A recent study by New York University sociologist Joscha Legewie and Columbia law professor Jeffrey Fagan revealed that African American police officers are less likely to shoot Black people than their White fellow officers.

The idea to create the Fatal Encounters database of all deaths through police interaction in the USA since January 1, 2001 appeared in the wake of the fatal officer-involved shooting of a naked, unarmed University of South Alabama student back in 2012.

The figures obtained from the Fatal Encounters shown that fewer Black civilians are killed by police in cities with more black officers. The research also revealed that in cities with relatively equal numbers of Black and White residents, the rate of death for people of color at the hands of police was lower when law enforcement was represented by close numbers of White and Black officials.

It is clear that the U.S. police departments have to promote diversity in law enforcement by recruiting officers from Black communities. The more black candidates will be attracted to police force, the less African Americans will be the victims of homicides.

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