Across multiple datasets and studies, Black people in the U.S. are more likely than white people to be stopped, have force used against them, be injured or killed by police, and experience misconduct during encounters, even when overall contact rates are similar.
The evidence is strongest on stops, non‑lethal force, injuries, deaths, and misconduct; research on differential provision of life‑saving care is thinner but related work on health impacts and mistrust is growing.[1][2][3][4][5]
In short, the strongest statistical support for the claim that white people are treated better than Black people by police comes from consistent racial disparities in use of force, injuries, killings, and reported misconduct, even when controlling for context and overall contact rates; evidence on medical care and “services” is more indirect but shows that policing contributes to worse health outcomes and institutional mistrust for Black communities.[8][2][15][3][4]