Report Reveals Police Use of Force Rising for Black, Female, and Older People
Recent Bureau of Justice Statistics provide comprehensive look at relations between police and the public in 2019 and 2020
The Prison Policy Institute has released a report analyzing survey data published by the Bureau of Justice Statistics on “Contacts between police and the public in 2020.” The report reveals that, while fewer people came into contact with police overall, “those interactions were still too often racially discriminatory and too often involved improper or harmful conduct.”
While the BJS survey has led to key findings regarding the discriminatory use of force by police, the scope of the data leaves out incidences between police and the public after June 2020, subsequent months of which saw deep social unrest caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and a “nationwide reckoning with racialized police violence” following the death of George Floyd.
More than 1 in 5 people in the survey reported coming into contact with police in the past twelve months. Of these reports, 2% of people experienced the nonfatal threat or use of force. This force consists of being handcuffed, pushed or grabbed, hit or kicked, used chemical or pepper spray or an electroshock weapon on, pointed or fired a gun at, or some other kind of physical force.
Of this 2%, the use of force disproportionately affected Black people. The statistics reveal that racial disparities in policing persist, particularly in regards to the threat or use of force. Black people were 12 times more likely to experience police misconduct. During traffic stops in particular, Black and Hispanic people were most likely to experience a search or arrest, while white people enjoyed the effects of police discretion and were most likely to leave a traffic stop with a mere warning. 2020 saw approximately 1 million fewer traffic incidents, likely a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Two additional trends were also revealed: older people are vulnerable to harmful interactions with the police, and police are increasingly threatening or actually using force against women. More than 1 in 7 people aged 65 or older reported police contact, with the number of people in the same age range experiencing the use of force nearly doubling between 2018 and 2020. Women accounted for an “alarming” 31% of those experiencing the use of threat or force in recent police interactions.
The findings by the BJS led the Prison Policy Initiative to ask a number of pressing questions: how has policing changed through 2020? Why are women increasingly experiencing the use of force by police, while this figure is decreasing for men? Do police really provide solutions to those in need of help?
The data reveals that 36% of people who contacted police for help felt as though the response did not improve the situation, though 93% were equally likely to contact police again in future incidents. The Prison Policy Initiative noted that this dependence may be indicative of the need for alternatives to policing.
In light of the political movement to “defund” the police, the BJS also issued administrative surveys of law enforcement personnel, the scope of which extends to the end of 2020, beyond the survey on contacts between police and the public. The Initiative reported that, in line with reports of stagnant or increased police budgets in the 2021-22 fiscal year, the police were not “defunded” in 2020. The report also noted sheriffs and police chiefs continue to be overwhelmingly white.
The Prison Policy Initiative concluded its report, stating “hopefully, future versions of this survey will help paint a clearer picture of how policing has evolved over the past two years and how advocates and lawmakers can continue to push for change.” In light of the data provided by the BJS, “we’ve yet to see meaningful shifts in policing institutions.”
Our Latest
New report finds the U.S. prison population grew in 2022 after almost a decade of decline
New data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics shows the number of people sentenced to more than one year in prison increased in 35 states
A summer job can do a lot, but it’s no guarantee to keep guns off the streets
The Marion Barry Summer job program in D.C. was a ground breaking program mimicked across the country to stop youth gun violence, but results are mixed.
Failings of youth incarceration
The Sentencing Project held a webinar to discuss the problems of youth incarceration In the face of increased pretrial detention in The District of Columbia,
A new investigation reveals gun seizures under Bowser’s police department broke the law
Journalists Alex Coma and Mitch Ryals published an investigative story uncovering a criminal investigation of 19 D.C. police officers for misconduct while serving in a crime suppression unit. Originally an internal MPD inquiry, the investigation has since been upgraded to a criminal inquiry, with allegations including taking firearms without making arrests and filing false reports.
House of Pain: an introduction
My name is Bernard Jemison and I will briefly explain my story. I’ve been incarcerated since May 13, 1998, over 25 years now for felony murder that should have been self-defense. I was sentenced to serve life with the possibility of parole in the Alabama department of corrections.