Juvenile Injuries and Deaths from Police Shootings in the United States, 2015-2020

• In Event: Health Criminology: Policing and Adolescent Health

Abstract

More than 1,000 individuals were killed by police shootings each year in the US from 2013-2022, which far exceeds population-adjusted rates in other developed democracies. However, prior research has overlooked patterns of both fatal and non-fatal police shootings among juveniles (i.e., minors or children under the age of 18). The present study fills this research gap by leveraging a unique and comprehensive data source—the augmented gun violence archive (a-GVA)—to 1) describe the juveniles injured in fatal and nonfatal shootings by police from 2015-2020, 2) compare characteristics of juvenile victimizations to adult victimizations, and 3) compare the odds of a shooting victim being juvenile or adult, given known characteristics. The findings reveal several patterns that differentiate juvenile and adult victims related to demographic characteristics (e.g., gender, race, ethnicity) and the characteristics of and circumstances surrounding these shooting events (e.g., response type, incident type, victim weapon status, behavioral health related incident). Trauma-informed and developmentally tailored approaches to police-youth interactions are needed to support de-escalation and reduce the national burden of juvenile injuries and death from police shootings in the United States, as are comprehensive public health initiatives that build health equity and address the unmet health needs of our youth.

Authors

• Dylan B. Jackson, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

• Alexander Testa, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

• Daniel Charles Semenza, Rutgers University

• Cassandra K. Crifasi, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

• Julie A. Ward, Vanderbilt University