Law and Race Commons^™

Violence And Police Diversity: A Call For Research, Mary D. Fan

BYU Law Review

Deaths and protests in places where predominantly-white police forces patrol majority-black communities have focused the national spotlight on concerns over unrepresentative police forces. Responding to the controversy, mayors and police chiefs in cities across the nation are announcing goals to hire more minority officers. But does police diversification actually reduce the risk of violence in police encounters? This Article addresses this timely question of legal and practical import to communities seeking to prevent violence and pursue policies that survive constitutional scrutiny.

Drawing on restricted-access Centers for Disease Control data and social-psychological insights, this Article shows that there is a good …