There may be a racial component in cops killing black people at higher rates but I don’t think its much of a difference when you also look at violent crimes committed when broken down by race “young black men accounted for 27 percent of everyone who committed murder in 2008. Young white men accounted for 16 percent.” Poor people commit more crimes and more black people are poor overall but that’s a separate issue than my point here.
Do you see the issue as merely a racial one or the abuse of the authority of the police in general? I think the bigger issue that needs to be looked at in the media is the abuses committed by the police against the populace as a whole. I read stories in the media all the time, in which police officers also get away with the murder of white people, not just black people. A big part of the issue is local prosecutors being unwilling to prosecute “one of their own” and actively or passively hindering the process when its one of their own guys. It seems to me that its not as much of the police being racist assholes, but one of them being assholes in general that feel they can do however they please. It is good in my opinion that the racial aspect has come to light because I believe it will eventually shine a light on the civil abuses committed by the police against everyone. Hopefully cops will start to wise up and realize that they can’t be so brazenly abusive as they used to be.
What policies or actions do you think could or should be instituted to curb police abusing ordinary citizens. Should some outside federal entity take the helm when a cop is considered for prosecution. I believe the police should be held to a higher professional standard than other professions because of the incredible authority they hold over non law-enforcement individuals. Too often police get away with murder, not to mention many other abuses, though they are rarely if ever prosecuted.
One responder was a Seattle policeman – who was black himself – who was arguing in favor of taking all factors into account in police response. He thought a totally color-blind approach would be wrong and dangerous.
Another guest was a scientist in Denver who had done extensive “shoot/don’t shoot” simulations, and found that there was a strong racial bias in shootings. This included policemen, but also just ordinary citizens. Every social group – including blacks – was slightly more likely to open fire on a black suspect than a white suspect in identical situations.
Some of us will remember the incident in Long Beach, CA, where a TV news station was investigating race and police brutality. The set up a black man – a retired police officer! – to stand by a bus stop and wait. It wasn’t long before a pair of policemen came up and started hassling him – to the point of shoving him through a window. All on camera. (Okay, this was in the 1980s.)
There seems to be more to the issue than I remember, however, as the stories on this page indicate. If the jury split 11-1 favoring acquittal, either the jury was hideously biased, or there’s a lot of information I do not have. I may have to back away from this incident and stop citing it in debates of this nature.