"U.S. residents whose most recent contact was police-initiated or related to a traffic accident were asked whether the contact involved police shouting, cursing, or threatening the use of force or using nonfatal force. The use of force includes handcuffing, pushing or grabbing, hitting or kicking, using a chemical or pepper spray, using an electroshock weapon, pointing or shooting a gun, or using some other type of physical force.2,3 Threat of force, handcuffing, pushing or grabbing, hitting or kicking, and using a weapon were combined in this report to create overall estimates of the threat or use of force.
"In 2022, approximately 3% of residents experienced some type of police action during their most recent policeinitiated or traffic accident-related contact, with 2% experiencing the threat or use of nonfatal force (table 8). The most common specific actions residents experienced were cursing or shouting (2%) or handcuffing (2%) by police. There was no significant change between 2020 and 2022 in the percentage of persons who experienced any police action.
"White persons (3%) were less likely than black persons (7%) but more likely than persons of another race (2%) to experience at least one type of police action in 2022. A lower percentage of Hispanic persons experienced at least one type of police action in 2022 (3%) than in 2020 (5%), including the threat or use of nonfatal force (2% in 2022 and 3% in 2020) and handcuffing (1% in 2022 and 3% in 2020)."
Susannah N. Tapp, PhD, and Elizabeth J. Davis. Contacts Between Police and the Public, 2022. October 2024. NCJ308847. US Dept. of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics.
