Research Guides: Black Lives Matter: Statistics

Polling Data

Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes & trends shaping America and the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research.

Founded in 1935, Gallup is known for its public opinion polls and its research on what humans around the world think and feel.

Government Statistics

Race | U.S. Census Bureau
The Census Bureau's mission is to serve as the leading source of quality data about the nation's people and economy.
Race & Ethnicity | Bureau of Justice Statistics
Information from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS).

A part of the U.S. Department of Justice, the BJS mission is to collect, analyze, publish, and disseminate information on crime, criminal offenders, victims of crime, and the operation of justice systems at all levels of government.
Traffic Stops | Bureau of Justice Statistics
A report on traffic stops and police & U.S. resident contact.
Use of Force | Bureau of Justice Statistics
A collection of law enforcement use of force statistics which has been mandated as a responsibility of the Attorney General since 1994.
Crime in the United States 2015 | FBI
From the United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, the UCR Program is a nationwide, cooperative statistical effort of city, university and college, county, state, tribal, and federal law enforcement agencies voluntarily reporting data on crimes brought to their attention. Since 1930, the FBI has administered the UCR Program and has continued to assess and monitor the nature and type of crime in the nation. In 2014, law enforcement agencies active in the UCR Program represented more than 311 million United States inhabitants (97.7 percent of the total population). Released each fall for the previous year.
Justifiable Homicide by weapon, law enforcement | 2015 Crime in the United States, FBI
Crime report on "justifiable homicide" by law enforcement by weapon 2011-2015. See Table 14.

Statistical Database

For statistics on crime, law enforcement, education, health, housing, social welfare, and more in the United States try this library resource

SAGE Stats
Formerly called State Stats. It features statistical data series created from more than 200,000 government and non-government datasets, covering popular topics of research interest for U.S. Available mapping and graphing tools, comparisons with data sets, and ability to export to Excel. Annual measures dating back more than two decades.

Additional Statistical Sources

Fatal Encounters Database | CSU-Fullerton and Reno News & Review
Database in progress of all deaths through police interaction in the United States since Jan. 1, 2000. Data is being collected through paid researchers, public records and crowdsourcing.
Ferguson Project: Mapping What Happened After the Grand Jury Verdict | St. Louis Public Radio
Sort what happened where by day (Nov. 24-29) and type of event. Protest, street closures, fires, arrest and other information are color coded.
NAACP Criminal Justice Fact Sheet
Fact sheet from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.