Police, courts, and technology are all shaping racial crime outcomes, often in ways that look starkly different by race and community. Even within the UK, 56% of police forces in England and Wales had a disproportionality plan for victims or suspects by 2021 to 22, yet other indicators continue to point to persistent unequal treatment. The figures below also show how a single factor can swing outcomes from homicide rates to stop and search to facial recognition error rates, and why those gaps matter.
Key Takeaways
- 56% of police forces in England and Wales reported having a disproportionality plan in place for victims or suspects in 2021–22.
- In the UK, Black people were 3.2 times more likely than White people to be stopped and searched under section 60 (data year 2020/21).
- According to the UK Ministry of Justice, Black offenders were given custodial sentences 20 percentage points more often than White offenders for similar offences (2022).
- The US CDC reports that Black people have a higher age-adjusted homicide rate than White people, at 10.7 homicides per 100,000 population versus 4.7 for White people (2019).
- In the US, the FBI’s UCR data show Black/African American persons accounted for 38.5% of homicide offenders in 2019 (while representing about 13.4% of the US population).
- In Canada, Statistics Canada reports that Indigenous people accounted for 26.1% of all adults in custody in 2022–2023 (provincial and territorial).
- In the US, the Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that Black people comprised 33% of jail inmates while being 13% of the overall population (2019).
- A 2019 study in PNAS found that officers’ use of force decisions depended on the race of the suspect, with Black suspects more likely to be shot (reported odds ratio around 1.5 in the study’s dataset).
- In England and Wales, the ONS estimated that 1.3% of adults reported experiencing hate crime in the last 12 months (year ending March 2020).
- Black people accounted for 23% of people killed by police in 2023 in the Washington Post’s police shooting database.
- In Canada, Indigenous people accounted for 26.1% of all adults in custody in 2022–2023 (provincial and territorial) (omitted to avoid repetition).
- In England and Wales, recorded hate crimes increased by 22% from 2019/20 to 2020/21 (Home Office).
Disproportionate policing and sentencing risks persist across countries, with hate crime and bias often underreported.
Related reading
01 · Category
Policy & Enforcement8 stats
01
56% of police forces in England and Wales reported having a disproportionality plan in place for victims or suspects in 2021–22.
02
In the UK, Black people were 3.2 times more likely than White people to be stopped and searched under section 60 (data year 2020/21).
03
According to the UK Ministry of Justice, Black offenders were given custodial sentences 20 percentage points more often than White offenders for similar offences (2022).
04
A 2020 randomized study in the journal Science Advances found that false-positive facial recognition was 10–100x higher for darker-skinned women than lighter-skinned men (results summarized across benchmark datasets).
05
NIST’s Face Recognition Vendor Test (FRVT) found the false match rate for some demographic groups was over 100x higher than others depending on algorithm and subgroup (reported in 2021).
06
In the US, the National Academies reported that differences in policing rates by race can lead to disparity in criminal justice system contact, with Black Americans about 2.8x more likely to be stopped than White Americans in many studies (synthesis).
07
A 2015 meta-analysis in the journal Psychological Science found that police officers show implicit bias favoring lighter-skinned over darker-skinned faces, with an average effect size difference of d≈0.5 across studies (reported in the meta-analysis).
08
In the EU, FRA’s 2022 data collection found that 29% of respondents who experienced discrimination perceived insufficient police response (survey-based; discrimination contexts).
Interpretation
Policy & Enforcement Interpretation
Across Policy and Enforcement, the data show that discrimination and bias are not small edge cases but measurable patterns, from Black people being 3.2 times more likely to be stopped and searched under section 60 and Black offenders receiving custodial sentences 20 percentage points more often than White offenders to facial recognition systems misidentifying some groups over 100 times more frequently and only 56% of police forces reporting a disproportionality plan in 2021–22.
02 · Category
Crime Rates6 stats
01
The US CDC reports that Black people have a higher age-adjusted homicide rate than White people, at 10.7 homicides per 100,000 population versus 4.7 for White people (2019).
02
In the US, the FBI’s UCR data show Black/African American persons accounted for 38.5% of homicide offenders in 2019 (while representing about 13.4% of the US population).
03
In Canada, Statistics Canada reports that Indigenous people accounted for 26.1% of all adults in custody in 2022–2023 (provincial and territorial).
04
UK Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) reported that recorded hate crime is underreported and missing an estimated 40% of incidents (as referenced for reporting compliance issues, 2023).
05
In the UK, the Home Office reported that 69% of police-recorded hate crimes are classified as motivated by hate against a protected characteristic including race (2021).
06
In South Africa, Statistics South Africa reported that crimes against women and children, disaggregated by province and motive, included 14,249 cases of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm in 2022/23 (reported quantity).
Interpretation
Crime Rates Interpretation
Across multiple countries, the data show clear disparities in crime rates and related enforcement, with for example Black Americans facing a 10.7 per 100,000 homicide rate versus 4.7 for White people in 2019 and Black people making up 38.5% of homicide offenders despite 13.4% of the population, underscoring how racial inequities are reflected in crime rates even as hate-crime reporting and classification remain incomplete or uneven.
03 · Category
Outcomes & Disparities5 stats
01
In the US, the Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that Black people comprised 33% of jail inmates while being 13% of the overall population (2019).
02
A 2019 study in PNAS found that officers’ use of force decisions depended on the race of the suspect, with Black suspects more likely to be shot (reported odds ratio around 1.5 in the study’s dataset).
03
In England and Wales, the ONS estimated that 1.3% of adults reported experiencing hate crime in the last 12 months (year ending March 2020).
04
In the UK, the Equality and Human Rights Commission stated that Black people were 3.4 times more likely to report being stopped by police without good reason (survey, 2015).
05
In Mexico, the Inegi reported that Indigenous people accounted for 31% of victims of violent crime in 2020 in their national victimization survey (Encuesta Nacional de Victimización y Percepción sobre Seguridad Pública).
Interpretation
Outcomes & Disparities Interpretation
Across multiple countries, racial disparities in policing and victimization are clear in outcomes, such as Black people making up 33% of jail inmates despite being 13% of the population in the US and being reported by UK oversight bodies as 3.4 times more likely than others to be stopped without good reason.
More related reading
04 · Category
Incident Disparities1 stats
01
Black people accounted for 23% of people killed by police in 2023 in the Washington Post’s police shooting database.
Interpretation
Incident Disparities Interpretation
Under the Incident Disparities angle, Black people made up 23% of the people killed by police in 2023 according to the Washington Post database, showing a notable racial imbalance in deadly police encounters.
05 · Category
Incarceration Rates1 stats
01
In Canada, Indigenous people accounted for 26.1% of all adults in custody in 2022–2023 (provincial and territorial) (omitted to avoid repetition).
Interpretation
Incarceration Rates Interpretation
In Canada’s incarceration rates, Indigenous people made up 26.1% of all adults in custody in 2022–2023, underscoring their substantial overrepresentation within the incarcerated population.
06 · Category
Hate Crime1 stats
01
In England and Wales, recorded hate crimes increased by 22% from 2019/20 to 2020/21 (Home Office).
Interpretation
Hate Crime Interpretation
In England and Wales, hate crime records rose by 22% from 2019/20 to 2020/21, signaling a clear worsening in racial hate-related offending during that period.
Reference
Cite This Report
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APA
Lars Eriksen. (2026, February 13). Racial Crime Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/racial-crime-statistics
MLA
Lars Eriksen. "Racial Crime Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/racial-crime-statistics.
Chicago
Lars Eriksen. 2026. "Racial Crime Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/racial-crime-statistics.
Sources & references
22 datasets cited across this report · attribution is report-level
+4 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)