Racial Composition and Police Encounters: Contextualizing Police Fatalities

• In Event: The Role of Race and Circumstantial Factors in Police Encounters

Abstract

Police encounters resulting in civilian fatalities have been a pertinent criminal justice issue for decades. Previous studies have established factors like segregation, racial composition, and poverty play a vital role in how many and where fatal police encounters occur. However, there is a paucity of research investigating how these factors influence the way fatal police incidents unfold. Using data from Mapping Police Violence, and the racial threat perspective, this study examines whether the relative size of the black population influences whether a fatal police incident stemmed from a violent or nonviolent police encounter. The results provide a basis for understanding how and in what contexts fatal police-citizen encounters occur.

Authors

• Kendyl Geathers, Florida State University

• Patricia Y. Warren, Florida State University

• Eric A. Stewart, Independent Scholar