Interestingly, as the intensity of force increases (e.g.

handcuffing civilians
without arrest, drawing or pointing a weapon, or using pepper spray or a baton),
the probability that any civilian is subjected to such treatment is small, but the
racial difference remains surprisingly constant.

For instance, 0.26 percent of interactions between police and civilians involve an
officer drawing a weapon; 0.02 percent involve using a baton. These are rare events.
Yet, the results indicate that they are significantly more rare for whites than
blacks. In the raw data, blacks are 21.3 percent more likely to be involved in an
interaction with police in which at least a weapon is drawn than whites and the
difference is statistically significant. Adding our full set of controls reduces the
racial difference to 19.4 percent. Across all non-lethal uses of force, the odds-
ratio of the black coefficient ranges from 1.163 (0.036) to 1.249 (0.129).

In stark contrast to non-lethal uses of force, we find no racial differences in

officer-involved shootings on either the extensive or intensive margins. Using data
from Houston, Texas – where we have both officer-involved shootings and a randomly
chosen set of potential interactions with police where lethal force may have been
justified – we find, in the raw data, that blacks are 23.8 percent less likely to be
shot at by police relative to whites. Hispanics are 8.5 percent less likely.

Both coefficients are statistically insignificant. Adding controls for civilian

demographics, officer demographics, encounter characteristics, type of weapon
civilian was carrying, and year fixed effects, the black (resp. Hispanic) coefficient
is 0.924 (0.417) (resp. 1.256 (0.595)). These coefficients are
remarkably robust across alternative empirical specifications and subsets of the
data. Partitioning the data in myriad ways, we find no evidence of racial
discrimination in officer-involved shootings.

Investigating the intensive margin – the timing of shootings or how many bullets
were discharged in the endeavor – there are no detectable racial differences.

If you believe that police target Blacks, then read this to become better educated
on the subject.

Peter Kirsanow, U.S. Commission on Civil Rights:

There are 320 million people in the US. Some of them are going to be racists and
some of them are going to be cops. But for the last 30 years, the narrative that
Blacks are targeted and shot by cops is completely false.

There have been copious studies on the issue using Department of Justice
statistics. Back involvement in crime versus police shootings are far below what
would be predicted.

Blacks are, indeed, killed 2.5 times more often than Whites are by policemen. But
that is far less than the data would predict, given Black crime rates.

In New York City, Blacks are 35 times more likely to commit robberies than Whites,
38 times more likely to commit murders, and 51 times more likely to engage in
shootings (regardless of whether or not they result in a homicide). The amount of
police involvement in these crimes is much below what would be predicted.

Moreover, there is a negative impact, called the "Ferguson Effect" [analyzed by the
Manhattan Institute] because of the protests and as a result of the consequences,
police withdraw from proactive policing. That consequence in profound. Despite
decades of decrease in crime rates, right after the protests and outrage in
Ferguson, we saw a significant spike in violent crimes, due to less policing in the
Black communities.

72 percent of all police became less engaged in proactive policing, except for one
cohort: Black cops. Black cops are 3.3 times more likely to shoot Black suspects
than White cops.

Moreover, there is a negative impact, called the Ferguson Effect" [studied by the
Manhattan Institute] because of the protests and as a result of the consequences,
police withdraw from proactive policing. That consequence is profound. Despite
decades of decreases in crime rates, right after the protests and outrage in
Ferguson, we saw a significant spike in violent crimes, due to less policing in the
Black communities.

Burgess Owens, former NFL player

The problems of the Black Community: 40 percent of violent crime, 93 percent

against other Blacks. 83 percent of Black teen males are unemployed (for years!) 70
percent of Black men forsake their marriage. This leads to hopelessness and anger.
When they are not taught to be men, they look at themselves in the mirror and they
will rebel. They need to learn to be respectful to authority instead of feeling
like they are being targeted.

Since President Lyndon Johnson's 1964 program to abolish poverty, $22 trillion has
been spent. Over the past 50 years the improvement in poverty has been dismal,
about two percent.

Long read off another post, but this should be a big slap in the face to the people
taking after that loser, Colin. It has great statistics to back it up. I would like
to corner each player individually, read this to him, then have him explain his
need to protest, all on video.

Let’s talk about police use of force.

The U.S. population is about 314,000,000 people.

There are approximately 670,439 police officers.

That means there are less than 2.2 police officers per 1,000, or 2,133 officers per
million.

Police officers are less than .22 % of population.

Officers come into contact with 17% of the population annually.

That means 53,380,000 contacts …

Which led to 26,000 excessive force complaints against officers.

That’s 0.049% of contacts.

Only 8% of those complaints were sustained.

That’s 2,080 out of 53,380,000 contacts, or .0039%

A good friend of mine who is a Chief of Police put that into perspective:

You are seven times more likely to be murdered …

15 times more likely to be killed in a traffic accident …

42 times more likely to be raped …

… than to have a police officer use excessive force on you.

But we’re just warming up. Let’s look at 2015 police shootings.

990 people were shot by police in 2015. Here’s the demographic breakdown of those
“victims”:

White — 494, 50%

Black — 258, 26%

Hispanic – 172, 17%

Other — 66, 7%

Of those:

Mental illness played a role in 25%.

25% involved fleeing suspects.

In 75% of the incidents, the officer was under attack or defending someone that
was.

Indictments of police officers tripled from previous years.

Listen. I’m not suggesting racism doesn’t exist in law enforcement. It exists
everywhere – that’s the sad truth of it.

And yes, black people in the United States are more likely to be victims of violent
confrontations with police officers (per capita) than their white counterparts. But
let’s dive deeper into why this is.

Statistically, minorities come to police attention far more than their population
would suggest.

Black Americans make up about 13% of the population.

But according to the FBI, they account for about 50% of murders, and about 38% of
all violent crime overall.
Chicago gives us some great examples. And let’s not forget the insanely strict gun
laws there, by the way. For example, during the first eight months of 2016 (the
most recent period for which the numbers are available), 2,818 people were shot —
only 12 by police. (That’s one-half of 1 percent).

In cities with large black populations, homicide rates have skyrocketed during that
same period:

In Washington D.C., homicides are up 54%. In Cleveland, up 90%. Overall, homicide

is up 17%.

The U.S. Department of Justice says that Black people make up 15% of the population
in the 75 largest counties in the United States, yet account for 62% of all
robberies, 57% of murders, 45% of all assaults.

So what’s going on here? Are we confusing the color of one’s skin with poverty or
inequality? It’s a fair argument. Black people tend to be greater offenders,
statistically speaking, because they tend to be more disadvantaged, living in
poorer urban areas with less access to public services.

Then of course there’s the argument about the “violent subculture theory.” This is
the idea that some black communities have developed cultural values that are more
tolerant of crime and violence.

I want to leave you with a few recent studies.

First, a 2016 study by Roland G. Fryer Jr., who is an economics professor at

Harvard. He found that no racial bias could be detected in police shootings, in
either the raw data or when accounting for controls. He also found racial bias was
detected in lesser use of police force, but not deadly encounters. His
recommendation?

“Black Lives Matter should seek solutions within their own communities rather than
changing the behaviors of police and other external forces.”

Second, there were 6,095 black homicide deaths in 2014 — the most recent year for
which such data are available — compared with 5,397 homicide deaths for whites and
Hispanics combined. Almost all of those black homicide victims had black killers.

Finally, police officers — of all races — are also disproportionately endangered by

black assailants. Over the past decade, according to FBI data, 40% of cop killers
have been black. Officers are killed by blacks at a rate 2.5 times higher than the
rate at which blacks are killed by police.

Seems to me like the real problem here is socioeconomic disparities along with a
public perception issue thanks to biased reporting. And let’s not forget the huge
role that social media plays in disseminating false narratives and creating
emotional, knee-jerk reactions.

It’s important to have very real conversations about racism in America and
accountability among those who hold the thin blue line. Let’s just make sure we’re
basing those conversations on facts and not feelings.