William_T._Bianco,_David_T._Canon]_American_Polit

The racial divide today 165

Recent events in Ferguson, Missouri, Baltimore, Maryland, and Staten Island, New

York, among other places, have touched off a nationwide debate about fairness in

law enforcement. These graphs show both the total number and the relative number

(expressed as the number per million), by race, of people killed by police. Do racial

inequalities exist in law enforcement? What do the facts say?

WHAT DO

THE FACTS

S AY?

Source: “2017 Police Violence Report,” Mapping Police Violence, https://policeviolencereport.org (accessed 4/17/18).

• For all victims (total and unarmed), what racial category had the highest
  percentage of deaths? What racial category had the highest percentage of victims
  unarmed and not attacking? What do you think accounts for this difference?


• Is there a greater racial disparity in the second chart (which shows all people
  killed by police) or the third chart (which shows unarmed people)?


• What, if anything, surprises you about these numbers? Why?

Think about it

White

63%

Black

13%

Hispanic

17%

White

48%

Black

27%

Hispanic

21%

White

37%

Black

35%

Hispanic

25%

White

32%

Black

34%

Hispanic

32%

Other

7%

Other

4%

Other

3%

Other

2%

U.S. population

All killings by

police

Unarmed

Unarmed and

not attacking

Racial Inequality in Law Enforcement

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