# Isn't it ALWAYS foolish to run from the police?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-it-always-foolish-to-run-from-the-police/726601>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [July 30, 2015, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-it-always-foolish-to-run-from-the-police/726601 "2015-07-30T19:33:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
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**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\
**Post date:** [July 31, 2015, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-it-always-foolish-to-run-from-the-police/726601/51 "2015-07-31T20:28:14Z")

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> [@brickbacon](#):
>
> How do you know a higher percentage of Black people are criminals factually speaking? Most people try to justify this claim by looking at crime reports and arrests, but that really doesn’t hold up to scrutiny. For example, the vast majority of studies show White people use illegal drug more often than Blacks, yet Blacks are arrested not often. By just looking at the stats, you’d think Black did drugs more often, but the data says we don’t.
> 
> Even when you look at crimes like murder where there is evidence of a crime, those numbers are often offset by criminally of White people that goes unreported or unpunished. Things like bank or Medicare fraud. Jusy look at how the recent financial crisis resulted in almost no arrests. While I am not equating the two crimes, I am saying that there is scant evidence that criminality, broadly speaking, is more common amongst Black people.
> 
> More importantly, even if it were, the crimes aren’t being committed by Black people because they are Black. Why should that be the indentifying characteristic used rather that being poor, bearded, tattooed, or male? How is that fair or logical?

You can check arrest records against crime surveys and they match up very well. Since the vast majority of crime is intraracial the only way crime surveys would be skewed is if black people were either much more likely to falsely claim the are victims of crime or lie about the race of the criminals. They would also have to do so in a way that matches the arrest records. This beggars belief.  
As far as drugs go, all reports of the rates of drug use that show whites use more are self reported, but in studies that involve actual drug testing it is found that blacks use at a higher rate. Apparently what drug use surveys actually measure is not drug use but a willingness to admit to criminal behavior to strangers over the phone.  
If you look into it more poor people are arrested and hassled by the cops than rich, more tattooed people as well, males are much more likely to be arrested than women. The arrest rate for men is triple the rate for women. Is that because institutional anti-male sexism or because men commit far more crimes?

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