Police‐perpetrated racism and health in African American and Black communities

Abstract

This brief review article focuses on police‐perpetrated racism against African American and Black (AAB) communities, typically in the form of police brutality, police violence, and aggressive policing. We assert that police‐perpetrated racism constitutes a racial justice and public health problem. A growing body of literature supports this assertion, with the consequences and correlates of direct police contact, vicarious police contact, and place‐based exposure to aggressive policing including mental health (e.g., anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms, trauma) and physical health (e.g., poorer self‐rated health, hypertension) sequelae. We assert that eradicating police‐perpetrated racism requires acknowledgement of the historical landscape of policing as well as the ways in which police‐perpetrated racism maintains racial hierarchies. We conclude by making recommendations for promoting racial equity in policing.