Racialized police use of force and birth outcomes

To estimate associations between police use of force (PUOF) in local jurisdictions and birth outcomes of Black women compared to White women. Using birth records linked to municipal police department data on PUOF incidents, we estimated associations between overall and racialized PUOF and birth outcomes of 75,461 Black women and 278,372 White women across 430 municipalities in New Jersey (2012–2016). Overall PUOF was not associated with birth outcomes of Black or White women. A 1% increase in racialized PUOF was associated with a 0.06% increase in the odds of low birth weight (β: 0.06; 95% CI: 0.03–0.09) and preterm birth (β: 0.06; 95% CI: 0.03–0.10) among Black women but had no associations with birth outcomes of White women. Lack of associations between overall PUOF and birth outcomes coupled with significant associations between racialized PUOF and birth outcomes, among Black women only, is consistent with mounting evidence that structural racism adversely affects the health of Black people in the U.S. The findings point to the need to address health inequalities at the structural level. •Police use of force (PUOF) varies considerably across municipalities.•Racialized PUOF may reflect structural racism.•Overall PUOF is not associated with birth outcomes of Black or White women.•Racialized PUOF is adversely associated with birth outcomes of Black women.•Findings suggest that structural racism adversely affects health of Black women.