Characterizing Perceived Police Violence: Implications for Public Health
Hannah Cooper, ScD,
Lisa Moore, DrPh,
Sofia Gruskin, JD, MIA and
Nancy Krieger, PhD
Hannah Cooper is with the Medical Health and Research Association of New York, Inc, at the National Development and Research Institutes Inc, New York, NY. Lisa Moore is with the Department of Health Education, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, Calif. Sofia Gruskin is with the Department of Population and International Health and Nancy Krieger is with the Department of Society, Human Development, and Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Mass.
Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Hannah Cooper, ScD, National Development and Research Institutes, Inc, 71 W 23rd St, 8th Floor, New York, NY 10010 (e-mail: cooper{at}ndri.org).
Despite growing recognition of violences health consequencesand the World Health Organizations recent classificationof police officers excessive use of force as a form ofviolence, public health investigators have produced scant researchcharacterizing police-perpetrated abuse.
Using qualitative data from a study of a police drug crackdownin 2000 in 1 New York City police precinct, we explored 40 injectiondrug using and 25 nondrug using precinct residentsperceptions of and experiences with police-perpetrated abuse.Participants, particularly injection drug users and nondrugusing men, reported police physical, psychological, and sexualviolence and neglect; they often associated this abuse withcrackdown-related tactics and perceived officer prejudice.
We recommend that public health research address the prevalence,nature, and public health implications of police violence.
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