Me thinks the denial is real. You know diversifying police forces doesn’t do anything, right?
When cries of racism pop up, maybe it can be be pointed out that nearly 80% of the people black officers kill are black when blacks comprise 25% overall deaths by all officers. Indeed, black cops shoot their guns 3.3 times more often than their counterparts according to a 2015 University of Pennsylvania Department of Criminology statistical study — again, a reflection of the dangerous areas they serve more than any other factor. This indisputably counters the narrative that it’s white police officers using lethal force against black and brown people disproportionately compared to their peers. In fact, the University of Pennsylvania study by criminologist Greg Ridgeway says point-blank that while diversifying police ranks adds legitimacy, “Recent research suggests diversity does not make officers safer and this research does not suggest diversity will reduce the risk of police shootings.”
Even The Guardian wrote that, “Diversity among police officers is key, but it won’t solve the problems with policing”
“Research shows that, in general in the US, there is not a strong correlation, let alone a causal relationship, between an officer’s race and how officers treat members of the public when they respond to calls from civilians or stop and question them on the streets Statistics are, of course, not predictive of individual behavior, and studies of specific departments or communities vary. A 2004 study in Indianapolis (Indiana) and St. Petersburg (Florida) by Ivan Sun and Brian Payne, for example, found that black officers were more likely than white officers working in black neighborhoods to provide information, referrals to other agencies, and to treat residents respectfully, although the black officers were also more likely to use physical force against citizens in conflict situations. But, again, most studies find similarities overall in police behavior irrespective of officers’ racial background.”
There’s a reason I wrote this recently. The Democrats don’t have the facts, and they shouldn’t be gaslighting the public.
My intro and I go on from there:
When a candidate for president praised for his intelligence says one population is 400% more likely to be incarcerated for the same crime than another, and the reality is the difference is shown as negligible in peer-reviewed reports and studies, then we may have a “truth” problem. Factually, black-white sentencing disparities range from 5% to 20%, and even 0% in a U.S. Justice Department survey of felony cases in the country’s 75 largest urban counties. Additionally, black people are not more likely to be arrested, and even less likely for crimes like assault and robbery which they commit at levels five to eight times higher than the white population.