Justice Required: Police Shootings as Legalized Violence

Police have remarkably broad discretion to use deadly force. Evidence shows that more than 1,000 shooting deaths occur each year at the hands of the police in the United States, disproportionately in minority communities and often under questionable circumstances. Despite public outrage, there continue to be obstacles to assessing the extent of bias and addressing the harms of police violence, including a lack of transparency and limitations on access to data.

Justice Required is a groundbreaking quantitative and qualitative investigation of police violence. Robert J. Durán and Oralia Loza provide a comprehensive data analysis of all police shootings in Denver, Colorado, over nearly forty years, highlighting persistent patterns of racial and ethnic inequality. They examine the institutional and political dynamics that thwart efforts to hold police officers accountable after controversial incidents. Durán and Loza contextualize the data with regional comparisons and enliven the analysis with vivid storytelling. Justice Required argues that while police shootings are typically treated as a criminal justice issue, they should be understood as a public health problem. Rigorous and urgent, this book provides evidence-based, data-driven solutions to prevent further loss of life and promote accountability.

Robert J. Durán is an associate professor of sociology at Texas A&M University. He is the author of The Gang Paradox: Inequalities and Miracles on the U.S.-Mexico Border (2018) and Gang Life in Two Cities: An Insider’s Journey (2013), both published by Columbia University Press.

Oralia Loza is a professor of public health and interdisciplinary health sciences in the College of Health Sciences at the University of Texas, El Paso. Their research focuses on drug use, sexual risk, barriers to care, and sexual and gender minorities on the U.S.-Mexico border.