ArticleJournal of medical Internet research2020
Quantifying Public Interest in Police Reforms by Mining Internet Search Data Following George Floyd's Death.
Article in Journal of medical Internet research, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Black racial identity and engagement during Black Lives Matter 2020: The role of age and multiracial status.Cultural diversity & ethnic minority psychology · 2026Article
- Perceptions of Mental Health and Exploring the Role of Social Activism Among African Americans Exposed to Media Coverage of Police Brutality and Protests.Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities · 2023Article
- Conversations about race in Black and White US families: Before and after George Floyd's death.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe death of George Floyd while in police custody has resurfaced serious questions about police conduct that result in the deaths of unarmed persons.
objectiveData-driven strategies that identify and prioritize the public's needs may engender a public health response to improve policing. We assessed how internet searches indicative of interest in police reform changed after Mr Floyd's death.
methodsWe monitored daily Google searches (per 10 million total searches) that included the terms "police" and "reform(s)" (eg, "reform the police," "best police reforms," etc) originating from the United States between January 1, 2010, through July 5, 2020. We also monitored searches containing the term "police" with "training," "union(s)," "militarization," or "immunity" as markers of interest in the corresponding reform topics.
resultsThe 41 days following Mr Floyd's death corresponded with the greatest number of police "reform(s)" searches ever recorded, with 1,350,000 total searches nationally. Searches increased significantly in all 50 states and Washington DC. By reform topic, nationally there were 1,220,000 total searches for "police" and "union(s)"; 820,000 for "training"; 360,000 for "immunity"; and 72,000 for "militarization." In terms of searches for all policy topics by state, 33 states searched the most for "training," 16 for "union(s)," and 2 for "immunity." States typically in the southeast had fewer queries related to any police reform topic than other states. States that had a greater percentage of votes for President Donald Trump during the 2016 election searched more often for police "union(s)" while states favoring Secretary Hillary Clinton searched more for police "training."
conclusionsThe United States is at a historical juncture, with record interest in topics related to police reform with variability in search terms across states. Policy makers can respond to searches by considering the policies their constituencies are searching for online, notably police training and unions. Public health leaders can respond by engaging in the subject of policing and advocating for evidence-based policy reforms.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.