According to the Washington Post, police officers are often deployed to areas where people are being victimized the most which in many cases tends to be minority neighborhoods. Taking blacks for example, in a trend that is repeated in virtually all American metropolises, blacks often make up a small number of people living in the city (New York City has a 23% blacks) yet make up the majority of the crimes being committed in these cities (Blacks commit 75% of all shootings and 70% of all robberies in New York City).
Being a nationwide trend yet being backed up by facts, statistics, and common sense, it would be clear to a sensible person that the heavy presence of police officers in certain communities has to deal with protecting and serving potential victims of these communities and not simply racial bias.
I think racial bias has a bigger role in police than you give credit. You don't take into account that the justice system is more likely to convict blacks of crimes and that by heavier policing and targeting of blacks(as we have seen with police traffic stops and stop and frisk from class), blacks are disproportionately represented in these statistics. This becomes a self fulfilling cycle or prophecy of racial bias where we find crime is higher in a minority neighborhood because of heavy policing which in turn confirms racial bias and our desire to for a heavier police presence.
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ReplyDeleteHave you ever thought about WHY these communities have more crime? When people are angry, they are more likely to act out. The amygdala fires, people make snap decisions out of anger or begin to go down the wrong path because it feels cathartic. It's psychology. We've seen this at play time and again. Think back to the L.A. Riots, Rodney King, Ferguson. Telling minorities who are experiencing inequality and are feeling scrutinized to get over it is clearly invalidating their feelings. Why should they get over it when they feel they aren't being listened to? Not to mention, telling someone to get over their feelings does. not. work.
ReplyDeleteThe only way to help disadvantaged and crime ridden communities is to hear them, support them, give them sufficient education and better government programs. Use our privileges as a wealthy community to financially support those who were not given the same opportunities to their own personal success. Give them jobs, teen guidance programs, a stronger sense of community, a feeling that their country cares for them and they want to give back to it. Sending militarized police into these communities to beat, arrest and kill people who have fallen down the wrong path only breeds more contempt.
Your data cites that black Americans are responsible for more crimes, but have you ever considered that blacks just get convicted and arrested for more crimes to to police bias and profiling? Let's not forget that crack cocaine, which is incredibly similar to powder cocaine, gets a mighty charge and targets poor minority communities where crack is more common. White communities do not experience the same extreme convictions because powder cocaine, which is more common in white communities, has an overwhelmingly lesser sentence and is not monitored as greatly.
It is so true that police are there to protect ALL people, but if you are ignoring relevant statistics about police targeting disadvantaged and overwhelmingly black communities, you are just not seeing the entire picture. The root of "common sense" is questioning and finding fitting answers. It is crucial to look into why a statistic is the way it is rather than just accepting it at its word. For example, (and i'm not saying that you believe these stats), but there are statistics citing that white Americans get shot by the police more than black Americans. When examining this information you need to take into account that the majority of the population is white. It would only make sense that whites get shot more. With regards to population, black Americans receive the brunt of profiling and discrimination. According to Pew Research projections on unarmed police shootings, It is more likely for unarmed black Americans to get shot than people of any other race. Regardless, I think that as an officer, even if you feel threatened, there is little reason to beat or kill someone attacking you- that's not exactly how self defense works and the police are given multiple tools to take down an assailant without shooting, and we see shots fired more often in minority communities.