Novel measures of stressors such as a range of negative encounters with the police and assessments of whether those encounters were necessary were included to assess experiences of police brutality. We conceptualize police brutality not merely as the use of force by a police officer, but police action that dehumanizes the victim, even without conscious intent [19, 20]. Respondents were provided with the following examples of police actions: police cursed at respondent; police searched, frisked, or patted the respondent; police threatened to arrest the respondent; police handcuffed the respondent; police threatened the respondent with a ticket; police shoved or grabbed the respondent; police hit or kicked the respondent; police used pepper spray or another chemical on the respondent; police used an electroshock weapon such as a stun gun on the respondent, and police pointed a gun at the respondent. For each of these actions, respondents were asked whether it never happened to them, has happened about once or twice in their lives, happens a few times a year, about once a month, or happens about weekly. SHUR also assessed respondents’ evaluations of the necessity of the police actions they had experienced. They were asked: “Thinking of your most recent experience(s) with the police, would you say the action of the officer was necessary?” Our focus group participants contend that individual perceptions of the necessity of police actions are important indicators of the dehumanizing impact of police violence.