--- title: Protests Reduce Police Killings, New Research Shows description: A new study of nationwide data reveals that local protests led to a reduction in officer-involved fatalities canonical: https://time.com/6129592/protests-reduce-police-killings/ author: Susan Olzak article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2021-12-20T11:00:06.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:51:49.621Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Protests Reduce Police Killings, New Research Shows og:description: A new study of nationwide data reveals that local protests led to a reduction in officer-involved fatalities og:url: https://time.com/6129592/protests-reduce-police-killings/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta0107a7b12bfc957/698a20d94ee262f47d319bb5/GettyImages-1232431043.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Protests Erupt After 16 Year-Old Girl Shot And Killed By Columbus Police og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Protests Reduce Police Killings, New Research Shows twitter:description: A new study of nationwide data reveals that local protests led to a reduction in officer-involved fatalities twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta0107a7b12bfc957/698a20d94ee262f47d319bb5/GettyImages-1232431043.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Protests Reduce Police Killings, New Research Shows ## Video: 2021 In Memoriam: A Tribute to Those We've Lost [Watch (HLS stream): 2021 In Memoriam: A Tribute to Those We've Lost](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/gEewfkfy.m3u8) (3:27)  _Published 2021-12-13. A moving tribute from cellist Yo-Yo Ma to those we lost in 2021._ by [Susan Olzak](https://time.com/author/susan-olzak/) ## Susan Olzak Dec 20, 2021 11:00 AM UTC  Black Lives Matter activist holds a sign against police brutality in front of the Ohio Statehouse in reaction to the shooting of Makiyah Bryant on April 20, 2021 in Columbus, Ohio. Columbus Police Shot and killed Makiyah Bryant, 16 years old, on April 20, 2021 sparking outrage from the community. Black Lives Matter activist holds a sign against police brutality in front of the Ohio Statehouse in reaction to the shooting of Makiyah Bryant on April 20, 2021 in Columbus, Ohio. Columbus Police Shot and killed Makiyah Bryant, 16 years old, on April 20, 2021 sparking outrage from the community.Stephen Zenner-Getty Images by [Susan Olzak](https://time.com/author/susan-olzak/) ## Susan Olzak Dec 20, 2021 11:00 AM UTC George Floyd’s death in police custody brought a huge and a rapid [increase](https://acleddata.com/2020/09/03/demonstrations-political-violence-in-america-new-data-for-summer-2020/) in protests over police brutality—thousands of marches driven by the assumption that taking to the streets will bring change. Does it? Critics argue that protest brings mostly more strife, pointing to the weeks of violent demonstrations in Portland, Ore., or the melee during the protests over the Jacob Blake shooting in Kenosha, Wis., that culminated in the [Rittenhouse shootings](https://time.com/6117401/kyle-rittenhouse-verdict-not-guilty/). Is protest a positive force for progressive change? As a researcher, I set out to find out, focusing on public demonstrations against police violence that occurred years before Floyd was killed. The results were clear—at least where the issue was local. [My study](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00031224211056966) of America’s 170 largest cities between 2000 and 2019 found that street protests were followed by declines in officer-involved fatalities of Black and Latino individuals (though not for whites). In fact, the empirical analysis indicates that just one protest in a given city would reduce black fatalities by 11 percent and Latino fatalities by 7 percent in the following year. The study also looked at the impact of civilian review boards. Starting in the 1960s, activists pressed for these [citizen-run watchdogs](https://time.com/5905583/philadelphia-police-racism-history/), on the theory that their monitoring presence would enforce reforms and accountability. The authority of these boards ranged enormously, some merely making recommendations to the police chief, a few with the power to subpoena and fire police officers. All, however, at least appeared to signal progress. Many CRBs resulted from community protests opposing police brutality. Yet establishing them did not reduce fatalities, my study found. There was no difference in fatalities in cities that had boards and cities that did not. Of the 170 cities in the study, fewer than half had a civilian review board by 2018. Does anything else work? My preliminary evidence showed that body cameras seem to have an effect. Black and Latino fatalities by police appear to be down significantly in cities where officers were required to wear body cams, but because this data is often compiled at the state level the link is not as tidy. --- ### More from TIME --- What is clear is the effect of protests. Locally-oriented demonstrations significantly reduce the number of Black and Latino deaths by police. So might policy changes concerning new restraints on the use of force. Cities with higher median family income also saw a decline in fatalities across all groups, but more so for whites. Taking the issue of police violence to the streets makes sense, in part because social movements—such as the civil rights movement, the LGBTQ movement, or the movement against police brutality—are commonly organized by underrepresented or marginalized groups who have relatively limited access to power. Protest frequently offers the only viable avenue for disadvantaged groups to express discontent. So if American citizens are concerned with producing policies that reduce inequality in power, resources, and opportunity, the data are clear that protest holds some promise. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6129592/protests-reduce-police-killings/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6129592/protests-reduce-police-killings/"},"headline":"Protests Reduce Police Killings, New Research Shows","datePublished":"2021-12-20T11:00:06.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:51:49.621Z","description":"A new study of nationwide data reveals that local protests led to a reduction in officer-involved fatalities","url":"https://time.com/6129592/protests-reduce-police-killings/","keywords":["justice"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta0107a7b12bfc957/698a20d94ee262f47d319bb5/GettyImages-1232431043.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Susan Olzak","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/susan-olzak/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta0107a7b12bfc957/698a20d94ee262f47d319bb5/GettyImages-1232431043.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Protests Erupt After 16 Year-Old Girl Shot And Killed By Columbus Police","caption":"Protests Erupt After 16 Year-Old Girl Shot And Killed By Columbus Police","creditText":"Stephen Zenner-Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/justice/","name":"justice"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6129592/protests-reduce-police-killings/","name":"Protests Reduce Police Killings, New Research Shows"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"2021 In Memoriam: A Tribute to Those We've Lost","description":"A moving tribute from cellist Yo-Yo Ma to those we lost in 2021.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/gEewfkfy/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2021-12-13T11:00:00.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/gEewfkfy.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/6129592/protests-reduce-police-killings/","duration":"PT3M27S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/6129592/protests-reduce-police-killings/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```