Racial Bias in Policing

by Coded Logic 31 Replies latest social current

• 

  Coded Logic

  The US Justice Department just released findings from their investigation of the Baltimore Police Department. As 40% of the force is comprised of black officers some thought they'd be "immune" to racial bias. It turns out black cops can be just as racist - if not more racist - against black people than white cops. The study recommends strong community policing rather than simply hiring more black officers. The study found, among many things, that;

  1. Officers routinely used unreasonable and excessive force, including against juveniles and citizens who were not dangerous or posing an immediate threat
  2. Black residents account for roughly 84% of stops although they represent 63% of the city's population
  • Black residents make up 95% of the 410 people stopped at least 10 times by officers between 2010 and 2015
  • Police stopped 34 black residents 20 times, and seven black residents 30 times or more, between 2010 and 2015. No individuals of any other race were stopped more than 12 times
  • In addition to pat-downs, Baltimore officers perform unconstitutional public strip searches, including searches of people who are not under arrest

  http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bal-document-u-s-department-of-justice-investigation-of-the-baltimore-city-police-department-20160809-htmlstory.html
• 

  supernerdboy

  There are powerful people pushing the race agenda right now, with the goal of distracting people from the real issues involving law enforcement and government abuse in general. You seem to be falling for a tactic that news likes to use: Flooding the front pages with fluff that they know will distract a large portion of the populous.
  

  I do not think the discrimination is as large as they say it is. African Americans commit more then there share of crimes vs the relatively small size they represent (US as a hole, maybe there is major racism in some city's) In some city's police rarely even pull over black people because they are worried about getting shot (Bad parts of Detroit to name one).

  In addition police look at lists of crimes committed by there populace; what they see is that blacks/Hispanics commit more crimes then do Jews/Europeans/Asians/ext, this makes it so when a black person starts yelling and getting mad and shaking there arms at racism, or worse walks twords a cop, the cop may be inclined to shoot.

  Also the prison population of the USA is larger then every other country on earth, more then even china. The USA owns ~25% of the worlds caged people, yet only has ~5% of the worlds population.

  Now you could say the explanation, is that the US citizens commit more crimes, but this is obviously easy to disprove as other country's with Lower prison/death rates have higher crime rates. Another question to ask is: Do the higher prison rate cause are lower crime rates, and the answer would most likely be no. Iceland with one of the lowest prison and cop abuse rates in the world also has one of the lowest crime rates. (Could be other reasons like low population or dare I say less violent people)

  TL:DR. 1: The US is killing to many black people, but they are also killing more white people then any other race, in raw numbers. But everyone can agree cops in the US kill WAY to many people of all races, then they should! 2: the news floods the market with crap to get you to not see the more important things.
  
• 

  Ruby456

  wow damning report - only read to page 80 so far. p. 20 indicates that 3/4th of Baltimore police officers live outside of Baltimore city and that many commute long distances to get to work. coded logic do you have the page number for your comment

  As 40% of the force is comprised of black officers some thought they'd be "immune" to racial bias. It turns out black cops can be just as racist - if not more racist - against black people than white cops. The study recommends strong community policing rather than simply hiring more black officers. codedlogic
  

  also perhaps hiring from within the city of Baltimore may help the situation
• 

  LoveUniHateExams

  It turns out black cops can be just as racist - if not more racist - against black people than white cops(emphasis mine).

  Racism (noun):

  1Prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s own race is superior

  1.1The belief that all members of each race possess characteristics, abilities, or qualities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races (http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/racism).

  Two questions:

  1 Can black cops acting against black citizens really be racist towards their own race?

  2 If yes to the above, do more black citizens stopped indicate racism on the part of Baltimore law enforcement or that black people are more likely than white people to commit crime in Baltimore?

  This and related issues urgently need looking into. Of course, any police officers who have acted inappropriately need to be punished.
  
  
  
• 

  Ruby456

  luunithateexams - read the links provided by coded logic

  re question 1: we all express prejudices at some time or other so if you are talking prejudice then yes black cops can be racist against their own race. As I said above if the black cops are recruited from outside Baltimore city they can feel superior to and prejudiced towards Baltimore residents as being somehow inferior to other blacks imo particularly if the police force they join are inclined that way anyway

  secondly if their ideas are based on Nixon and Reagan's false narrative that deliberately portrayed blacks as lazy people having no initiative to win votes from demcrats then again that would be perpetrating racism. This can feed into systemic and structural racism and this is different and has the worst effect and the evidence for these failings among the Baltimore police department are what coded logic's link provides imo

  for your second question please read the link
• 

  LoveUniHateExams

  Unless I've missed it, I don't see anything in the OP's link that would enable one to distinguish between the two possibilities in the problem I posed, i.e. are Baltimore law enforcement unfairly discriminating against local African-Americans or is it the case that African-American people are more likely than white people to commit crime in Baltimore?
  

  From the Executive Summary: Members of these largely African-American communities often felt they were subjected to unjustified stops, searches, and arrests, as well as excessive force. - Is this document saying that Baltimore officers are racist because local black citizens feel that they are?

  For ordinary black people going about their legal daily routine, it must be hell to be stopped by cops. Any cop acting inappropriately should be punished. But why should people be condemned as racist because others merely feel that they are? How can people's motives be properly established? Thought crimes aren't crimes ...
  
• 

  Coded Logic

  1 Can black cops acting against black citizens really be racist towards their own race?
  - LUHE

  
  

  Yes. A person can make derogatory and or discriminatory remarks against ANY race - including their own. And a person can favor a race and or hate a race that is - or isn't - their own.
  

  When I use the word "racism" here is the general definition I'm operating under (which is the most common):

  rac·ism

  ˈrāˌsizəm/

  noun

  1. the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races.

     
     

     
     

     
     

  
  

  2 If yes to the above, do more black citizens stopped indicate racism on the part of Baltimore law enforcement or that black people are more likely than white people to commit crime in Baltimore?

  
  

  It's unfortunate you didn't bother to read the report as it SPECIFICALLY address' this point. It found that black people are stopped and not charged with a crime far more than white people.

  
  

  
  

  I don't see anything in the OP's link that would enable one to distinguish between the two possibilities in the problem I posed, i.e. are Baltimore law enforcement unfairly discriminating against local African-Americans or is it the case that African-American people are more likely than white people to commit crime in Baltimore?

  
  

  Is the reason because you didn't bother to read the report?
  
  
• 

  GrreatTeacher

  Ruby,

  Baltimore can't get and keep cops because their pay is so low compared to surrounding counties.

  Also, the working conditions are extremely dangerous because the poverty is concentrated within the beltway. There's virtually no middle class in the city at all; there's endless poverty and only some lucky working class. There's gangs there. It's a black hole of concentrated crime.

  The net effect is that they can't find decent cops who live in the city to hire, and when they do, they can't retain them. Their job is dangerous and, in general, just awful. They see terrible, terrible things and some of them are never the same again.

  Cops get their first couple of years' experience in Baltimore city and then transfer to the surrounding counties for both a raise and better working conditions.

  This is from personal experience. I just accepted a teaching job there and have lived there in the past. My husband grew up there. The city got more and more dangerous which is why we moved.
• 

  EndofMysteries

  Baltimore police have pulled back. No more stop and frisks, etc. It's racist for them to do their job. It's racist to accept reality. So let's see the results. Murders are doubling, and Baltimore is surging past Detroit for murders. https://www.baltimorebrew.com/2015/08/07/baltimore-surges-past-detroit-in-number-of-homicides-in-2015/ becoming the second most violent city in America. But it's okay, all the innocent children and hundreds of extra murders are worth it because now they can be politically correct and pretend that crime is equal among all groups in the USA and stop doing their job as soon as the number of blacks go past their population percentage of crime vs white in the USA so nobody can accuse them of being racist.

  http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/13/us/after-freddie-gray-death-west-baltimores-police-presence-drops-and-murders-soar.html?_r=0

  http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/05/28/im-afraid-baltimore-residents-now-want-police-to-do-more-after-arrests-plunge-violence-soars/
  
• 

  Ruby456

  greatteacher

  yes some of those issues are highlighted in the report and the justice department concludes that the police department dealt with the problems in a systemically racist and unconstitutional way. Also that the issues you mention relate to structural deficiences that can be addressed.

  examples
  Black people are called niggers and worse etc. Innocent black people are stopped and searched to meet zero tolerance targets - one innocent black man was stopped 30 times in 12 months. the report highlighted how aiming to meet zero tolerance targets is unconstitutional and these targets cause huge frustration. this does not mean to suggest that many black people don't commit crimes but that in the same or similar conditions most people would become frustrated and crime rates would increase overall.

  when you have poverty and frustration together with success being represented as getting rich quick and nothing in between, together with whatever money the locals generate moving out of the area to make private companies richer, then as Richard Sennett argues it is to be expected that people give up.

  Richard Sennett argues form his own experiences growing up a poor white boy in such a neighbourhood but he highlights the differences between growing up poor white and growing up poor black. here i will need to dig out his research to provide evidence from his own experiences of becoming successful and then going back to his old neighbourhood to help poor black youths along with others. he has some interesting things to say about why frustration is so ingrained among black youths and relates these to structural and systemic racism couples with how the american dream actually de motivates them.