Report by The Skeptic Research Center and the Worldview Foundations Research Team, Feb. 20, 2021

Research Question: This is the seventh report from the Civil Unrest and Presidential Election Study (CUPES). In this report, we investigate a complex and defining issue of 2020 (and, no doubt, many years ahead): race and policing. Amidst calls to “defund” and reform police agencies, informed understandings of police-citizen interactions are crucial. So, here we ask the question: across the political spectrum, how knowledgeable are people when it comes to the available data on fatal police shootings of Black Americans? [....]

Summary of Findings: 

1. The available data on police shootings of unarmed Black men is incomplete; however, existing data indicate that somewhere between 13-27 unarmed black men were killed by police in 2019. Adjusted for the number of law enforcement agencies that have yet to provide data, this number may be higher, perhaps between 60-100.

• Yet, over half (53.5%) of those reporting “very liberal” political views estimated that 1,000 or more unarmed Black men were killed, a likely error of at least an order of magnitude (see Figure 1).

2. The available data suggest that 24.9% of people killed by police in 2019 were Black. However, across the political spectrum, survey participants overestimated this number.

• Those who reported being “liberal” or “very liberal” were particularly inaccurate, estimating the proportion to be 56% and 60%, respectively (see Figure 2).

Take-home Messages:

1. Our overall findings indicate that people are uninformed regarding the available data on fatal police shootings in the US.

2. Specifically, we found that the more people reported being “liberal” or “very liberal” on social and fiscal matters, the greater the discrepancy between the available data and their estimations.

3. What might explain peoples’ misestimations of these statistics? Is it liberals’ relatively greater concern with racism? Differential media consumption?

Perhaps you have an idea or explanation you’d like to share? Have an interpretation of this you want to share? Email it to [email protected] [....]