In a perfect world police would act impartially regardless of skin color but when most victims and perpetrators are black it’s correct for the police to detain, question arrest and testify against the criminals regardless of their race but that’s not what’s behind the #blacklivesmatter movement. Blaming the police is natural because they arrest people. Half of the officers charged in the Freddie Gray death are black but the issue is the Freddie’s death and who is responsible, not the skin color of the six officers charged.
Half of the homicides are committed by black people. The US Dept of Justice reported that between 1980 and 2008 52% of the homicides. Blacks make up 13% of the population so it’s statistically incorrect to predict that 52%% of the homicides would be committed by blacks but that’s what it is.
The FBI reported that white criminals committed 31.1% of the murders. Black’s are 13% of the population so statistically 6.5% of the murders should be committed by black murderers. But blacks committed 38% of the murders. Even worse, black males aged 15 to 34 account for the majority of the murders but they are only about 3% of the population so the black murder rates of the 3% should be expected to be three percent of the expected 6.5% which is less than one fifth of a percent yet they are 38%. That’s almost an impossibly 2,500% higher than expected. What’s the problem?
Why are American black youth so inclined to murder? First, they live in much more dangerous places so they would have to protect themselves more often because, second, they cannot expect the police to protect them. Why do blacks live in more dangerous places? The same question can be asked differently, i.e., why are black places more dangerous?
The police are expected to respond to crimes. There are more police in black neighborhoods because there is more crime there. If the police are guilty of brutality in black neighborhoods it’s because there are more police around and remember, police must use force and force is considered brutal by definition so the problem comes down to how much brutality is proper in the black neighborhoods, given that being brutal when required and expected is what the police are expected to do.
The solution to police brutality against blacks is to lower the danger in the black neighborhoods. That’s not begging the question. It’s the only solution possible.
What happens if the black – white crime rates are identical? The police would respond the same to black’s and whites. The amount of brutality would be identical which would lead to cutting down on police brutality because there would be fewer black criminals and the issue of the race of the criminals would not be an issue at all.
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