# DOJ report on racism and shakedown-artistry in the Ferguson PD

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-report-on-racism-and-shakedown-artistry-in-the-ferguson-pd/714604>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [March 9, 2015, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-report-on-racism-and-shakedown-artistry-in-the-ferguson-pd/714604 "2015-03-09T15:20:48Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 9

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**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\
**Post date:** [March 11, 2015, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-report-on-racism-and-shakedown-artistry-in-the-ferguson-pd/714604/161 "2015-03-11T14:35:50Z")

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> [@regginbrow](#):
>
> Yes I understand. Black people have a lower rate of being found with contraband than white people. You are assuming that, if that rate of searching was instead lowered to be equal with white folks, then the rate of contraband would shoot up to be higher than that of white people?

Basically, he is using percentages to conclude that if it rains 25% of the days in June, 10% of the days in July, and 15% of the days in August, then it rains 50% of the days during the summer.

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**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\
**Post date:** [March 11, 2015, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-report-on-racism-and-shakedown-artistry-in-the-ferguson-pd/714604/162 "2015-03-11T15:18:36Z")

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> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#):
>
> Where did they get their data? According to them, the Las Vegas Metro PD arrests 886.9 black people per 1000. I find it hard to believe that 90% of the black population is being arrested in Las Vegas.

I would guess some people are being arrested multiple times, and you can count as more than one person in the numerator and not the denominator.

> [@Steve\_MB](#):
>
> Basically, he is using percentages to conclude that if it rains 25% of the days in June, 10% of the days in July, and 15% of the days in August, then it rains 50% of the days during the summer.

This is silly.

But the fact is that ignorance of statistics and statistical concepts is so widespread and so deep-rooted that it’s for the most part useless to try to explain them to many people. That post was aimed at people who could understand it. If that doesn’t include you, then that’s fine too.

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**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\
**Post date:** [March 11, 2015, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-report-on-racism-and-shakedown-artistry-in-the-ferguson-pd/714604/163 "2015-03-11T16:26:28Z")

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[The Ferguson city manager has resigned.](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/03/10/ferguson-city-manager-resigned/24734977/)

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**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\
**Post date:** [March 11, 2015, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-report-on-racism-and-shakedown-artistry-in-the-ferguson-pd/714604/164 "2015-03-11T17:17:35Z")

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> [@Shodan](#):
>
> Again, he was not arrested for swearing at an officer.

Dancing in the street isn’t even against Ferguson’s [Manner of walking along roadway](https://www.municode.com/library/#!/mo/ferguson/codes/code_of_ordinances?searchRequest=%7B%22searchText%22:%22Manner%20of%20Walking%22,%22pageNum%22:1,%22resultsPerPage%22:25,%22booleanSearch%22:false,%22stemming%22:true,%22fuzzy%22:false,%22synonym%22:false,%22contentTypes%22:%5B%22CODES%22%5D,%22productIds%22:%5B%5D%7D&nodeId=PTIICOOR_CH44TRMOVE_ARTVIIPE_S44-344MAWAALRO) ordinance. Second, the report’s examples of retaliatory arrests come from the officers’ own reports. Third, there are multiple examples. And fourth, that’s just the tip of the proverbial iceberg, for every First Amendment violation, there are many, many Fourth Amendment ones.

> [@Shodan](#):
>
> Then why was the cop not arrested and charged with civil rights violations? Since the law is so clear and all.
> 
> Unless there is such a thing as discretion, which there is.
> 
> Regards,  
> Shodan

That’s an absurd standard for a DoJ report. Are you being serious, here?

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**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\
**Post date:** [March 11, 2015, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-report-on-racism-and-shakedown-artistry-in-the-ferguson-pd/714604/165 "2015-03-11T19:37:57Z")

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It’s crazy. Fox News fans would be exploding in rage right now if we were talking about a police officer who’d arrested a citizen for exercising his 2nd Amendment rights. They’d be calling for the police officer and that officer’s supervisor to be fired.

But a guy gets arrested for using colorful language? Meh. That’s what he gets for dancing in the streets. Someone coulda been kilt by all that gyratin’ and arm flappin’, don’tchaknow.

When conservative white people get as angry about the government trampling black people’s rights as they are about perceived threats to theirs, that’s when I’ll start saying we’ve come along way.

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**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\
**Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-report-on-racism-and-shakedown-artistry-in-the-ferguson-pd/714604/166 "2015-03-12T04:48:20Z")

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> [@monstro](#):
>
> But can I ask why it’s so hard for you to believe?

> [@DrCube](#):
>
> Seriously, have you not seen enough evidence of this?

I’ve seen evidence of some racism, yes, but I don’t know if this shows that it’s the cops that are racist.

For example, using the Gannett stats it was pointed out that Ferguson, SF, and Atlanta have similar arrest ratios. Is it your contention that all three PDs are equally racist? Because to me it doesn’t seem likely (one is a conservative backwater, another a hotbed of liberalism, the third headed by black leaders). It really can’t be proved one way or the other which is why I’d like to know if there’s any substantial city that has a good arrest record. Is there something that city is doing different? Are they, in fact, less racist?

The arrest record of black males is a tragedy and I’ll look at any and all causes/remedies. However, I want to focus our energy on the real reasons, whatever they might be. I’m just not sure it’s the cops.

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**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\
**Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-report-on-racism-and-shakedown-artistry-in-the-ferguson-pd/714604/167 "2015-03-12T11:36:39Z")

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> [@monstro](#):
>
> It’s crazy. Fox News fans would be exploding in rage right now if we were talking about a police officer who’d arrested a citizen for exercising his 2nd Amendment rights. They’d be calling for the police officer and that officer’s supervisor to be fired.
> 
> But a guy gets arrested for using colorful language? Meh. That’s what he gets for dancing in the streets. Someone coulda been kilt by all that gyratin’ and arm flappin’, don’tchaknow.
> 
> When conservative white people get as angry about the government trampling black people’s rights as they are about perceived threats to theirs, that’s when I’ll start saying we’ve come along way.

This, a thousand times this. Ferguson’s Failure to Comply ordinance, for example, is right out of a totalitarian state:

> [@](#):
>
> One area of FPD activity deserves special attention for its frequency of Fourth Amendment violations: enforcement of Ferguson’s Failure to Comply municipal ordinance.14 Ferguson Mun. Code § 29-16. Officers rely heavily on this charge to arrest individuals who do not do what they ask, even when refusal is not a crime. The offense is typically charged under one of two subsections. One subsection prohibits disobeying a lawful order in a way that hinders an officer’s duties, § 29-16(1); the other requires individuals to identify themselves, § 29-16(2). FPD engages in a pattern of unconstitutional enforcement with respect to both, resulting in many unlawful arrests.
> 
> …
> 
> FPD officers apply Section 29-16(1) remarkably broadly. In an incident from August 2010, an officer broke up an altercation between two minors and sent them back to their homes. The officer ordered one to stay inside her residence and the other not to return to the first’s residence. Later that day, the two minors again engaged in an altercation outside the first minor’s residence. The officer arrested both for Failure to Comply with the earlier orders. But Section 29-16(1) does not confer on officers the power to confine people to their homes or keep them away from certain places based solely on their verbal orders. At any rate, the facts of this incident do not satisfy the statute for another reason: there was no evidence that the failure to comply “interfered with, obstructed or hindered the officer in the performance” of official duties. § 29-16(1). The officer’s arrest of the two minors for Failure to Comply without probable cause of all elements of the offense violated the Fourth Amendment.
> 
> …
> 
> For example, in an October 2011 incident, an officer arrested two sisters who were backing their car into their driveway. The officer claimed that the car had been idling in the middle of the street, warranting investigation, while the women claim they had pulled up outside their home to drop someone off when the officer arrived. In any case, the officer arrested one sister for failing to provide her identification when requested. He arrested the other sister for getting out of the car after being ordered to stay inside. The two sisters spent the next three hours in jail. In a similar incident from December 2011, police officers approached two people sitting in a car on a public street and asked the driver for identification. When the driver balked, insisting that he was on a public street and should not have to answer questions, the officers ordered him out of the car and ultimately charged him with Failure to Comply.  
> …
> 
> In our conversations with FPD officers, one officer admitted that when he conducts a traffic stop, he asks for identification from all passengers as a matter of course. If any refuses, he considers that to be “furtive and aggressive” conduct and cites—and typically arrests—the person for Failure to Comply.

And the folks who (rightly) are skeptical of state power and arbitrary government in any other circumstance just shrug and bitch about Eric Holder. Something’s going on here, and it stinks.

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**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\
**Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-report-on-racism-and-shakedown-artistry-in-the-ferguson-pd/714604/168 "2015-03-12T12:02:31Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> one officer admitted that when he conducts a traffic stop, he asks for identification from all passengers as a matter of course. If any refuses, he considers that to be “furtive and aggressive” conduct and cites—and typically arrests—the person for Failure to Comply.

[Hamba Dompas…](http://www.dsae.co.za/#!/word/2044/dompas,%20n.)

You know, if you’re still eagerly employing the kind of “Vere Iz Your Paperz!” tactics that Apartheid SA [abandoned in the 80s](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pass_laws#Repeal_in_1986), you may _just_ be a little racist.

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**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\
**Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-report-on-racism-and-shakedown-artistry-in-the-ferguson-pd/714604/169 "2015-03-12T12:39:38Z")

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> [@Human\_Action](#):
>
> Dancing in the street isn’t even against Ferguson’s [Manner of walking along roadway](https://www.municode.com/library/#!/mo/ferguson/codes/code_of_ordinances?searchRequest=%7B%22searchText%22:%22Manner%20of%20Walking%22,%22pageNum%22:1,%22resultsPerPage%22:25,%22booleanSearch%22:false,%22stemming%22:true,%22fuzzy%22:false,%22synonym%22:false,%22contentTypes%22:%5B%22CODES%22%5D,%22productIds%22:%5B%5D%7D&nodeId=PTIICOOR_CH44TRMOVE_ARTVIIPE_S44-344MAWAALRO) ordinance.

Of course it does violate that -

> [@](#):
>
> Where sidewalks are provided, it shall be unlawful for any pedestrian to walk along and upon an adjacent roadway.
> 
> (b) Where sidewalks are not provided, any pedestrian walking along and upon a highway shall, when practicable, walk only on the left side of the roadway or its shoulder facing traffic which may approach from the opposite direction.

> [@](#):
>
> That’s an absurd standard for a DoJ report. Are you being serious, here?

I’m being entirely serious (if you are). Why are you holding the Justice Department to a different standard than the Ferguson police? Why does Eric Holder get to exercise discretion and the cops don’t?

Regards,  
Shodan

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**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\
**Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-report-on-racism-and-shakedown-artistry-in-the-ferguson-pd/714604/170 "2015-03-12T12:41:29Z")

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Dancing isn’t walking…

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**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\
**Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-report-on-racism-and-shakedown-artistry-in-the-ferguson-pd/714604/171 "2015-03-12T12:45:04Z")

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For legal purposes yes it is…

Regards,  
Shodan

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\
**Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-report-on-racism-and-shakedown-artistry-in-the-ferguson-pd/714604/172 "2015-03-12T12:47:23Z")

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> [@MrDibble](#):
>
> [Hamba Dompas…](http://www.dsae.co.za/#!/word/2044/dompas,%20n.)
> 
> You know, if you’re still eagerly employing the kind of “Vere Iz Your Paperz!” tactics that Apartheid SA [abandoned in the 80s](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pass_laws#Repeal_in_1986), you may _just_ be a little racist.

Of course, you could be acting entirely in accordance with [Missouri state law](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_and_identify_statutes).

Regards,  
Shodan

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**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\
**Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-report-on-racism-and-shakedown-artistry-in-the-ferguson-pd/714604/173 "2015-03-12T13:21:21Z")

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> [@BrainGlutton](#):
>
> Nothing directly racist?!
> 
> From the [highlights](http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2015/03/04/the-12-key-highlights-from-the-dojs-scathing-ferguson-report/):
> 
> > [@](#):
> >
> > **The 67% of African Americans in Ferguson account for 93% of arrests made from 2012-2014.**

That’s only evidence of racism if the percentage of crimes in Ferguson aren’t committed 93% of the time by African Americans. Take homicide victim data, for example. If we accept that people are generally murdered by someone they know and secondly by someone in their neighborhood, then we can expect a fairly strong correlation between the race of the victim and the race of the perpetrator.

[http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2011/crime-in-the-u.s.-2011/tables/expanded-homicide-data-table-1](http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2011/crime-in-the-u.s.-2011/tables/expanded-homicide-data-table-1)

Based on US demographics, we would expect the number of African American homicide victims to be about 12.8% of the total number of homicide victims. Instead, it is over half. If we try to correct for income, where 5.1 of 46.5 million people living in poverty are African American, then we would expect the number to be 10.9% - which is an even worse result (and unexpected).

I don’t think that there’s anything about skin pigmentation that causes a person to commit crime. If African Americans do commit crime more prevalently, then the causes are social. But I do think that it’s being intellectually dishonest to say that a higher reported crime rate among African Americans is de facto evidence of racism on the part of the police.

Something like, “Despite being searched at higher rates, African Americans are 26% less likely to have contraband found on them than whites”, is a decent piece of evidence (though not necessarily conclusive) of racism, since it would indicate a pattern of behavior that doesn’t follow reality.

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**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\
**Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-report-on-racism-and-shakedown-artistry-in-the-ferguson-pd/714604/174 "2015-03-12T13:28:22Z")

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> [@Mops](#):
>
> Where’s the disconnect? Shouldn’t local politics suffice to safeguard the interests of the local _majority_ population?

> [@Richard\_Parker](#):
>
> You start with the structure of the municipal government. …
> 
> Add on the fact that there is widespread disenfranchisement of African Americans because of the racist criminal justice system. If you’re in prison, on probation, or on parole, you can’t vote. And you might not register at all if you have a warrant out for the $600 in court fines accrued for the bullshit citation you got for telling the officer your name was Mike and not Michael.
> 
> Finally, low-income populations tend to vote less… There are lots of reasons for this. Poor people tend to be more transient, so it requires more effort to stay registered and knowledgable. They tend to incur higher opportunity costs for voting. Etc.

This is a very important point.

And a parallel to this is that local governments tend to be the most corrupt, most unresponsive to the needs of the voters, and the most beholden to moneyed interests and and fringe politics.

The thesis that local governments are or ought to be or must be the least likely to be oppressive is fallacious.

[Why the Worst Governments in America Are Local Governments](http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/09/ferguson-worst-governments.html)

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**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\
**Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-report-on-racism-and-shakedown-artistry-in-the-ferguson-pd/714604/175 "2015-03-12T14:02:08Z")

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[Ferguson cops shot at protest](http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/12/us-usa-missouri-shooting-protest-idUSKBN0M80CJ20150312)

> [@](#):
>
> (Reuters) - Two police officers were shot and wounded during a protest rally in Ferguson, Missouri, early on Thursday, hours after the city’s police chief resigned in the wake of a scathing U.S. Justice Department report finding his force was rife with racial bias.

The two police officers are in serious condition. It’s open season on police, most of whom are dedicated people striving to do their duty. Meanwhile the holocaust of black-on-black killing in American cities goes unreported. It just doesn’t fit the liberal agenda of evil white people.

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**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\
**Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-report-on-racism-and-shakedown-artistry-in-the-ferguson-pd/714604/176 "2015-03-12T14:05:16Z")

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> [@aldiboronti](#):
>
> [Ferguson cops shot at protest](http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/12/us-usa-missouri-shooting-protest-idUSKBN0M80CJ20150312)
> 
> The two police officers are in serious condition. It’s open season on police, most of whom are dedicated people striving to do their duty. Meanwhile the holocaust of black-on-black killing in American cities goes unreported. It just doesn’t fit the liberal agenda of evil white people.

It’s certainly sad and tragic when cops are targeted, but it doesn’t refute the DOJ report about the racial bias and misconduct of the Ferguson PD.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![CGav8r](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/34f0e0/32.png) [@CGav8r](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CGav8r)\
**Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-report-on-racism-and-shakedown-artistry-in-the-ferguson-pd/714604/177 "2015-03-12T14:26:28Z")

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> [@aldiboronti](#):
>
> [Ferguson cops shot at protest](http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/12/us-usa-missouri-shooting-protest-idUSKBN0M80CJ20150312)
> 
> The two police officers are in serious condition. It’s open season on police, most of whom are dedicated people striving to do their duty. Meanwhile the holocaust of black-on-black killing in American cities goes unreported. It just doesn’t fit the liberal agenda of evil white people.

Black-on-black violence negates all other types of violence to blacks (especially violence from the state). It really is the only violence that should be discussed.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![theR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@theR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/theR)\
**Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-report-on-racism-and-shakedown-artistry-in-the-ferguson-pd/714604/178 "2015-03-12T14:36:16Z")

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> [@Deeg](#):
>
> I’ve seen evidence of some racism, yes, but I don’t know if this shows that it’s the cops that are racist.
> 
> For example, using the Gannett stats it was pointed out that Ferguson, SF, and Atlanta have similar arrest ratios. Is it your contention that all three PDs are equally racist? Because to me it doesn’t seem likely (one is a conservative backwater, another a hotbed of liberalism, the third headed by black leaders). It really can’t be proved one way or the other which is why I’d like to know if there’s any substantial city that has a good arrest record. Is there something that city is doing different? Are they, in fact, less racist?
> 
> The arrest record of black males is a tragedy and I’ll look at any and all causes/remedies. However, I want to focus our energy on the real reasons, whatever they might be. I’m just not sure it’s the cops.

[Two](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=18196586&postcount=144) [people](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=18196586&postcount=145) already replied to your previous comment about this. They seemed like pretty reasonable replies to me.

I’d like to ask what your belief is with regard to the commonality causing similar statistics if it’s not the police. It seems very likely since police are a self-selecting group of people who apply for the jobs, with similarities that are further enforced by the hiring process, the methods of training being similar across the country, and the actual manner and behavior of policing also being reinforced similarly across the country. What department actually makes a point of training or policing in a manner that is different than the majority? Look there and at least there might be some chance you find a difference in arrest statistics that normally are skewed by the race of arrestees.

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**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\
**Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-report-on-racism-and-shakedown-artistry-in-the-ferguson-pd/714604/179 "2015-03-12T14:50:15Z")

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> [@Shodan](#):
>
> For legal purposes yes it is…

Where does it say that?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\
**Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-report-on-racism-and-shakedown-artistry-in-the-ferguson-pd/714604/180 "2015-03-12T14:51:30Z")

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> [@Shodan](#):
>
> Of course, you could be acting entirely in accordance with [Missouri state law](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_and_identify_statutes)

Yes, the Pass Laws were perfectly legal in Apartheid South Africa, too, what’s your point?

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