In a first-ever investigation, USA TODAY released a study showing the alarming rate of African-Americans in the Unites States more likely to be killed in a police chase. This rate is three times higher than any other race. The types of deadly police chases include innocent bystanders and those actually involved in the chase. For every 100,000 black people in the United States, four died in police chases between 1999 and 2015. In the same time period, for every 100,000 person who was non-black, 1.5 died.
According to the study, this averages to 90 black people killed annually in police chases. A percentage of the pursuits involved suspects who posed some threat to the public before fleeing the police.
Pursuits are among the most dangerous police activities. They have killed more than 6,200 people since 1999.
“It’s an issue of institutionalized racism, that communities of color are not valued as much as communities not of color,” Michigan state Rep. Sheldon Neeley (D) from Flint told USA TODAY.
Researchers also found that deadly police chases involving black drivers are twice as likely to stem from minor offenses or non-violent crimes. For example, deadly pursuits from 2013 and 2014 were related to a seat-belt violation, marijuana suspicion or an illegal window tint.
“The decision to flee from police is a choice made by the driver, not the officer,” Michigan State Police spokeswoman Shannon Banner said.
By contrast, USA TODAY reports some courts and some law enforcement agencies say police carry a certain level of responsibility to impose danger because of their choice to start or continue a chase.
Investigations by the Department of Justice concluded that police departments like Ferguson and Baltimore discriminated against black communities. USA TODAY's study did not find a direct link that officers considered race in police pursuits, however, researchers compared daytime cases when officers have a better chance of seeing someone's skin color as apposed to the dark.
During the day, 31% of drivers involved in deadly police chases were black. At night, 21% of the drivers in deadly chases were black.
“Even when people think they’re not using race in decision-making in law enforcement, there is this way we as humans see people — particularly black people — as criminal or potentially criminal,” said Delores Jones-Brown, director of the John Jay College Center on Race, Crime and Justice.
The report noted the Department of Justice's call for police departments across the country to ban officers from chasing citizens who do not pose an immediate threat to the public. Officers are told to instead track down the drivers at a later time. Other departments require officers to chase drivers based on their own judgement, for any offense.
