Police Shootings Statistics and Public Support for Police Reforms

Michael Leo Owens, Ph.D., Department of Political Science, Emory University

Portions of the U.S. public focus on reducing police violence, particularly police shootings of civilians. Journalists and activists sustain that focus by documenting and publicizing annual numbers of police shootings. Does providing numeric information about police shootings influence public support for police reforms? The talk will address empirical challenges of answering the question and offer insights about numeric-based initiatives to reduce police shootings in the U.S.