Police brutality against Native Americans

Police brutality is defined as the use of excessive force by law enforcement personnel while performing their official duties in an abusive and unjustified manner. Police brutality can also include psychological harm through the use of intimidation tactics beyond the scope of officially sanctioned police procedure.

Native Americans ages 20–24, 25–34, and 35–44 are three of the five groups most likely to be killed by police. Mortality data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (between 1999 and 2011) shows that Native Americans comprise 0.8 percent of the United States population and account for 1.9 percent of police killings, making them 3.1 times more likely to be killed by police than white Americans.