Getting killed by police a leading cause of death for young American black men, study finds
WASHINGTON - Getting killed by police is a leading cause of death for young black men and boys in the U.S., a new study finds.
Black men and boys are 2.5 times more likely than white men and boys to die during a police encounter, according to the study published this month in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Overall, about one in 1,000 black men and boys in the U.S. can expect to die at the hands of a police officer.
Excessive police force has garnered greater scrutiny in recent years following high-profile killings by police. That scrutiny has changed some local elections and led to the implementation of police-worn body cameras (and subsequent release of body-cam footage following police shootings).
This study applies data to police shootings that now dominate national headlines. Read the full report here.