Do #AllLivesMatter? An Evaluation of Race and Excessive Use of Force by Police

There is anecdotal evidence showing that African-Americans are more likely to be subjected to excessive use of force by police than are people of other races. The counterargument is that these issues are not related to race and there are other factors at work. There have been several high-profile cases, such as those in Ferguson, Cleveland, and Baton Rouge. In this study, we estimate the effect of race on excessive use of force incidents using a new dataset comprising citizen complaints against the Chicago Police Department. Our findings show that not only does race play a role in excessive use of force complaints, but also that race plays a role in which complaints are sustained. Our study also highlights the importance of having data on which to perform rigorous empirical analysis in order to inform policymakers. © 2017, International Atlantic Economic Society.