Black Americans experience more nonlethal force from police than white Americans, DOJ report shows

A protestor takes part in an October march in New York against police brutality
(Image credit: Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/AFP/Getty Images)

Black Americans are more than twice as likely to experience nonlethal force or the threat of force by police officers as white Americans, according to a Department of Justice study released Saturday. For the study's purposes, nonlethal force ranges from shouting and cursing to electroshock weapons and gun-pointing, The Washington Post reports.

Between 2002 and 2011, about 75 percent of all U.S. residents ages 16 and up who encountered force when interacting with a police officer said they considered that force to be excessive.

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Julie Kliegman

Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.