Race, Structural Predictors, and Police Shootings: Are There Differences Across Official and “Unofficial” Accounts of Lethal Force?

Abstract

Police shootings have received considerable attention recently. While official data have often been used to capture police use of lethal force, “unofficial” databases have been developed to document lethal force patterns throughout the United States. Thus, it is now possible to systematically compare databases, exploring racial differences and potential causes, which is important given longstanding criticisms of official records. Here, we examine police shootings using Mapping Police Violence and Supplemental Homicide Reports data and investigate the impact of commonly used structural predictors on race-specific police shootings. Significant differences are revealed across official and unofficial databases, particularly by race. We conclude that the data used to estimate police shootings matter, which has key implications for future work on this important topic.