Harvard study: no racial bias in police shootings

[Darrell KSR]

On the most extreme use of force - officer-involved shootings - we find no racial differences in either the raw data or when contextual factors are taken into account," said Harvard economics professor Roland G. Fryer Jr. in the abstract of the July 2016 paper.

Mr. Fryer, who is black, told The New York Times that the finding of no racial discrimination in police shootings was "the most surprising result of my career."

http://citizensjournal.us/no-racial-bias-in-police-shootings-study-by-harvard-professor-shows/

[badrose]

Interesting...

[dan_bgblue]

Thanks Darrell

[suncat05]

Yeah, but to hear "some people" tell the story that narrative is completely false. Po-lice just out to kill all the fellas in da 'hood, ya know?

[CitizenBBN]

This study was cited by Brit Hume in a little segment I saw that did a great job laying out how Obama has failed on this issue, basically b/c he readily accepts the premise without any real evidence.

I"m sure there are incidents out there, and that study did find that blacks are treated more roughly in encounters on average, but it's not the national "open season" epidemic it's being painted as by the Left and the media.

The truth is that this is a big country and it's easy enough to pick the one incident here and there that supports the case and use it as evidence, but it's not necessarily statistically true. Between the Louisiana and Wisconsin shootings there was a shooting of a white person in California that has also raised questions, but that has gone completely unreported b/c it doesn't fit the agenda.

Guliani is right, 99.5% of young black men who are killed are not killed by cops, and the big majority of those, like 70%, are killed by other young black men. The epidemic facing inner city minorities in this country is the drug/crime circle of violence. The threat from bad cops is so low comparatively it's really not a day to day factor.

[Doc]

On the most extreme use of force - officer-involved shootings - we find no racial differences in either the raw data or when contextual factors are taken into account," said Harvard economics professor Roland G. Fryer Jr. in the abstract of the July 2016 paper.

Mr. Fryer, who is black, told The New York Times that the finding of no racial discrimination in police shootings was "the most surprising result of my career."

http://citizensjournal.us/no-racial-bias-in-police-shootings-study-by-harvard-professor-shows/

That statement in and of itself lends one to question any bias. It also lends support to a media bias to exaggerate the racial tones as well as the administrations propaganda to do the same.

[Doc]

This study was cited by Brit Hume in a little segment I saw that did a great job laying out how Obama has failed on this issue, basically b/c he readily accepts the premise without any real evidence.

I"m sure there are incidents out there, and that study did find that blacks are treated more roughly in encounters on average, but it's not the national "open season" epidemic it's being painted as by the Left and the media.

The truth is that this is a big country and it's easy enough to pick the one incident here and there that supports the case and use it as evidence, but it's not necessarily statistically true. Between the Louisiana and Wisconsin shootings there was a shooting of a white person in California that has also raised questions, but that has gone completely unreported b/c it doesn't fit the agenda.

Guliani is right, 99.5% of young black men who are killed are not killed by cops, and the big majority of those, like 70%, are killed by other young black men. The epidemic facing inner city minorities in this country is the drug/crime circle of violence. The threat from bad cops is so low comparatively it's really not a day to day factor.

But even one person, regardless of race, being shot by a police officer unjustly is too many. And the natural reaction to police shooting by governments is to take the officers side. Ditto for police brutality such as Rodney King. When the officers who make poor decisions "get off", and return to the job then there is an issue that upsets people and rightly so.

[KeithKSR]

But even one person, regardless of race, being shot by a police officer unjustly is too many. And the natural reaction to police shooting by governments is to take the officers side. Ditto for police brutality such as Rodney King. When the officers who make poor decisions "get off", and return to the job then there is an issue that upsets people and rightly so.

That is very true, but we aren't going to hit the zero mark of unjust actions given the millions of police-citizen encounters there are each year.

[Doc]

That is very true, but we aren't going to hit the zero mark of unjust actions given the millions of police-citizen encounters there are each year.

Nope, we will never hit zero. But what is unacceptable is when unarmed and subdued perpetrators are shot and killed, then the officers suffer no consequences. I have no issue with an officer shooting somebody trying to steal his gun as was the case with Michael Brown but when a subdued individual is shot then there is an issue.

[CitizenBBN]

But even one person, regardless of race, being shot by a police officer unjustly is too many. And the natural reaction to police shooting by governments is to take the officers side. Ditto for police brutality such as Rodney King. When the officers who make poor decisions "get off", and return to the job then there is an issue that upsets people and rightly so.

Any murder is too many, but you can't make policy based on that kind of thinking and you can't use it anecdotally to presume there is even a problem based on the fact that it does happen from time to time.

When incidents happen they need to be addressed, and those involved held accountable, but what we are seeing now is largely a fabrication for political purposes. Taking individual cases that may in fact be an outrage and using them to depict a national epidemic is just nonsense.

[KeithKSR]

Most police involved shootings come from perps resisting arrest.

[Doc]

Most police involved shootings come from perps resisting arrest.

Most but not all.

[Doc]

Any murder is too many, but you can't make policy based on that kind of thinking and you can't use it anecdotally to presume there is even a problem based on the fact that it does happen from time to time.

When incidents happen they need to be addressed, and those involved held accountable, but what we are seeing now is largely a fabrication for political purposes. Taking individual cases that may in fact be an outrage and using them to depict a national epidemic is just nonsense.

Who suggested policy changes? I didn't. What I suggest is that when a police officer shoots and kills somebody, or beats the hell out of them, that they be held accountable in the exact same manner as any other citizen. Having a badge doesn't not give one the license to kill. Again, I'm not talking about justifiable where there is a threat to the lives or somebody IS resisting. Might it be a smaller percentage of officers? Yes but I suspect if it was you on the receiving end of that club, you wouldn't think it was nonsense.

I'm talking this crap

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sb1WywIpUtY

[CitizenBBN]

Doc, do you think I disagree? I said if there is such an incident those involved need to be held accountable. The King beating was obviously over the top, and I'm sure there are other incidents.

But the thread is talking about the fact that those incidents are NOT statistically based on race. White folks get the crap beaten out of them too from time to time.

But the number of these incidents is relatively small, and not racially motivated on average. I'm sure some are, but they are best dealt with situationally, where as what we see is this movement of national outrage over something that is about as frequent as being killed by lightning compared to the things that are doing daily harm to Americans.

Who would disagree that we should prosecute cops who abuse or beat or kill people without justification? They may get off at trial, but LOTS of people who should be convicted get out of it at trial, not just cops.

Yes, prosecute them, but lets stop PERSECUTING them.

[Doc]

The report brings several questions to my mind. First is the definition of "physical encounter". Does that include traffic stops (with and/or without citations issued). If not then the study does not address one of the main contentions of the African American and other minorities which is that they are targeted. As an example, there was an incident some time back where an AA was drinking a tea outside a convenient store. The office mistakenly believed it to be alcohol and the result ended up being a physical altercation when the individual tried to explain it was tea. The contention of some minorities is that had this individual been white, an altercation and " physical encounter" would not have occurred. Personally I tend to understand and believe that position. If the study is as I suspect and its looking at physical encounters as arrests which some degree of resistance and greater, then this study does not take that into account. That is a fairly important factor in what the study does and does not address. I believe what the study says is that if you're getting arrested then the chances of you getting shot is the same regardless of ethnicity. To me, that's not a shock.

The other issue that is troublesome to me is the general lack of accountability when officers clearly do something inappropriate. Things like kicking a cuffed perp because they are pissed about a 20 car chase or the beating of individuals who have been rendered defenseless. The police are not there to inflict punishment. Should citizens comply to an officer's orders? Sure but when they don't it does not mean the police have a license to beat the **** out of them, then go on administrative, ie paid, leave then be back at work after an inquiry. If I beat on somebody with a club while they were handcuffed, I'd be arrested and sent to jail. When officers do it, often they are found to simply be doing their jobs. That is what people have issues with. Were those types of things less common then the justified shooting wouldn't draw the ire. As another example: Micheal Brown in Ferguson no doubt was a lowlife who went for an officer's gun yet he is a martyr because other incidents where bad cops were not held accountable.