New Tool for Measuring Police and Law Enforcement Interactions Reflects Police-Based Discrimination Experiences of Black Men

Researchers led by Lisa Bowleg, Professor of Applied Social Psychology at the George Washington University, have developed a new tool to catalog police and law enforcement interactions with black men, the Police and Law Enforcement (PLE) Scale, with the hope of documenting people’s experiences and perceptions of police-based discrimination. The study found that police-based discrimination is associated with depression symptoms such as sadness, hopelessness and loss of interest and ambition. Because of this, the authors believe that police-based discrimination should be considered a public health threat.