Understanding Ethnic Disparities in Lethal Police Incidents in the Netherlands Between 2016 and 2020

Abstract

This Research Note outlines a novel approach to studying the role of ethnicity in lethal police incidents (LPI). We take data from the Netherlands, between 2016 and 2020, to show—first—that the representation of individuals with minority ethnic backgrounds in LPI is 350% of what would be expected based on their proportion of the population. Comparisons with other indicators (prison population; homicide) showed that the proportion of individuals with minority ethnic backgrounds was particularly high in outcomes that meet two conditions: (1) the outcome is more serious (vs. less serious), and (2) the authorities are involved (vs. not involved). These findings generate relevant recommendations for future work on lethal police incidents.