Law enforcement targets people of color for detentions, interrogations, and searches without evidence of criminal activity, causing communities to lose trust in law enforcement and hindering community policing efforts. Negative police interactions have been associated with worse mental health among Black men in turn causing community members to fear and mistrust other important authority figures such as doctors and healthcare institutions. 

Mistrust of medical authority figures (medical mistrust) can cause devastating outcomes in times such as the current COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 cases and deaths are on the rise in Blacks. This is partly associated with the medical effects of policing, medical mistrust associated with negative police interactions, and medical bias in our health care institutions. Join us for a Deep Dive into the repercussions of a Pandemic on top of an already existing Economic, Racial and Mental Health Pandemic in the Black Community.