I’ve been writing about the issue of racially biased policing for years. You mention here lack of data, but the Obama-era DOJ report in Chicago has use of force incidents by race. What they lacked is arrest rates by race which are nearly identical and were publicly available. And those matched crime reports by third parties. Why were they omitted?
Obviously, politics are at play where you can’t imply that one population commits crimes at vastly higher rates than another population.
So while I agree there is implicit bias by police, I’m not so sure they act out on it in violent ways. How else would Chicago police not surpass the national rate of lethal use of force (about 1 police killing per 300,000 citizens annually since Jan. 1, 2015)?
Baltimore police actually weren’t killing at a high rate (3x higher than national average but up to 10x more homicides). There is no strong indication of racism in police tactics, despite DOJ reports which only compare outcomes to overall populations within each of the 20+ cities they investigated. Search “Baltimore” here for some factoids. Or St. Louis, Milwaukee or the morass of facts on Chicago. Search “3 studies” and “Ferguson Effect,” too. I actually include 7 or 8 studies — I added much new content since I started this project — that show negligible or even reverse racial bias in use of force.
Or skip that and just look at the data I ran:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1FU0YyGjJE_lrCJl0tWtpnQtomLpaKlp_3gyjuM_odGY/edit
Key excerpt that ZERO media have reported. I’ve been literally asking reporters and academics to rip this off for well over a year.
Using arrest data for the same period use of force data is compiled in the DOJ Report (2011–2016), and using racial differences in arrests in those same years (2011–2016), here are the results: 1) 3.3 out of 100 arrests of white Chicagoans result in use of force; 2) 4.0 out of 100 arrests for black Chicagoans result in use of force. The rate difference between white and black Chicagoans per arrest is a mere 18%. Nationally, the rate difference between white and black Americans per arrest is greater at 24.4%, 3.6 per 100 vs. 4.6 per 100. Use of force rates are higher nationally for whites and blacks. Thus, that data tells us cops are treating blacks and whites more equitably in Chicago than nationwide. Also, the small but statistically significant black-white gap could also be explained by contextualizing the fact blacks are more often arrested for violent crimes, as well as resist arrest and injure police at higher rates. Another key finding rarely mentioned in Chicago media: Black Chicagoans are 7 out of 10 stops, 7 out of 10 arrests , and — most importantly — 7 out of 10 suspects (as determined by crime reports). And yes, 7 out of 10 instances of use of force are directed at black Chicagoans. If 5 out of 10 suspects were black, then you would have a definitive racism problem in policing.
Ah, yes, that second series of data points I ran on violent crimes, which hardly anyone mentions. Just bounce through the tabs. If you or others know anyone I should be in touch with, please let me know. LIKELY FACTOR FOR RACIAL DIFFERENCE ABOVE: Blacks are more often arrested for violent crime. 7.9% of all arrests for whites are in 4 major violent crime categories based on 2015 FBI statistics; and for blacks it was 12.6%.
Isn’t it logical that makes those arrests more likely to involve force?
Does anyone use logic anymore in the age of identiy politics and BLM?