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This statistic presents the number of deaths resulting from law enforcement actions and homicides in 2022, by country worldwide. France is the European country with the highest number of deaths following police actions, although this rate remains much lower than those in North America. Thus, in 2022, the American police caused more than a thousand deaths. Only four countries report more deaths.

Racism at the heart of police violence

Police violence refers to the excessive use of force by the police, through beatings, racist insults, illegal homicides, acts of torture, or unjustified use of riot control forces during protests. The most affected countries are in situations of precariousness, often accompanied by a corrupt or authoritarian government. These violences, frequently accompanied by a lack of legal repression, are particularly directed towards minority populations. Racism within the police is especially visible in the United States, where the rate of Black people killed is 5.9 per one million people, compared to 2.3 and 2.5 for white and Hispanic people. Brazil, plagued by insecurity and poverty, experiences a similar situation.

Social movements and mistrust towards the police

Since the traumatic death of George Floyd in the United States and the resulting Black Lives Matter movement, Western media have highlighted numerous related cases. In France, the death of Nahel, a young man shot by a police officer, sparked riots in the country in 2023. Mistrust towards the police has thus been reinforced by the perception of racism within it, and 40 percent of French people believe that abuse of power is widespread within their country's police force.