26 Nov Higher Risk of Death From Police Shootings Among Black and Hispanic Youth

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Dr. Goyal

Dr. Monika K. Goyal, MD
Associate Division Chief, Emergency Medicine
Children’s National Hospital
Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine and Health Sciences
The George Washington University
Washington, District of Columbia

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: There has been growing attention to the disproportionate use of police force in communities of color. Therefore, we sought to investigate whether Black and Hispanic teenagers have higher rates of death due to police shootings when compared to white youth.

MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings? 

Response: On a population-level, we found disproportionately higher rates of death due to police shootings among Black and Hispanic adolescents when compared to white youth. Specifically, there were 0.15 deaths due to police shootings per 1,00,000 white youth in the U.S. In comparison, rates of death among Black youth were 0.88 per 1,000,000 and among Hispanic youth were 0.41 per 1 million. This translates into an increased risk of firearm-related death due to legal intervention of 6 times higher in Blacks and almost 3 times higher in Hispanic children when compared to white adolescents.

MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report?

Response: Risk of death due to police shootings is dramatically higher in Black and Hispanic youth when compared to white adolescents.

MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?

Response: Future work should strive to develop policies and procedures within the justice system to mitigate such disparities.

Citation:

Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Firearm-Related Pediatric Deaths Related to Legal Intervention

Gia M. Badolato, Meleah D. Boyle, Robert McCarter, April M. Zeoli, William Terrill and Monika K. Goyal
Pediatrics November 24, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2020-015917

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Last Updated on November 26, 2020 by Marie Benz MD FAAD