Citation

Boyd RW, Ellison AM, Horn IB. Pediatrics 2016; 137(3): 1-3.

Affiliation

Center for Diversity and Health Equity, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, American Academy of Pediatrics)

DOI

10.1542/peds.2015-2711

PMID

26908673

Abstract

From Oakland and Ferguson, to Cleveland and Baltimore, cities across the country mourn young African-Americans whose tragic deaths, following contentious encounters with police, illustrate the violent exchange that can erupt between law enforcement and people of color. Because police are vital pillars of community safety, these events raise important questions about how they influence the life course of children of color.

Despite public concern for how police impact black lives, few publications in the medical literature contextualize police behavior within a clinical framework. Those that do, rarely explore the extent to which police treatment functions as a social determinant of health, with unique implications for children.1 These implications provide pediatricians an opportunity to examine and address how police exposure affects child and adolescent health.

Police exposure begins in neighborhoods, where police discretion determines who is suspicious and sets the latitude with which the law is enforced. That latitude varies based on public policy, institutional culture, and budget pressures. When subject to explicit and implicit racial bias, this structures how police engage communities. For example, from 2002 to 2013, policies permitted New York City police to “stop-and-frisk” pedestrians if the officer had reasonable suspicion the pedestrians committed or were about to commit a crime. Of the ∼5 million stops, almost 9 in 10 were …

Language: en