Justice report finds systematic discrimination against African Americans in Ferguson

[Nice Squirrel]

http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/03/politics/justice-report-ferguson-discrimination/index.html

Justice report finds systematic discrimination against African Americans in Ferguson

Washington (CNN)A Justice Department civil rights investigation has concluded that the Ferguson Police Department and the city's municipal court engaged in a "pattern and practice" of discrimination against African Americans, targeting them disproportionately for traffic stops, use of force, and jail sentences, according to a U.S. law enforcement official briefed on the investigation.

The probe is the result of an investigation ordered by Attorney General Eric Holder after the police shooting that killed Michael Brown last summer.

Among the findings, reviewed by CNN: from 2012 to 2014, 85% of people subject to vehicle stops by Ferguson police were African American; 90% of those who received citations were black; and 93% of people arrested were black. This while 67% of the Ferguson population is black.

In 88% of the cases in which the Ferguson police reported using force, it was against African Americans. During the period 2012-2014 black drivers were twice as likely as white drivers to be searched during traffic stops, but 26% less likely to be found in possession of contraband.

 

[ksen]

something something stats, something something genetically dumber, something something Holder . . . OBAMA!

 

[Derec]

Having stop/arrest statistics different from population demographics is not in itself a sign of "systematic discrimination". But hey, I do not have particularly high expectations form Holder DOJ.

 

[ksen]

2 out of 3!! :yay:

 

[braces_for_impact]

 

[ksen]

racism? what racism?

http://www.vox.com/2015/3/3/8144027/ferguson-investigation-obama-joke

It seems the investigation also uncovered additional disturbing material that suggests a culture of racial bias among those who hold power in the city: according to the Associated Press, the report includes a 2008 message — which appears to be an attempt at humor — from a municipal email account that says President Obama wouldn't be in office long, because "what black man holds a steady job for four years."

 

[dismal]

racism? what racism?

http://www.vox.com/2015/3/3/8144027/ferguson-investigation-obama-joke

It seems the investigation also uncovered additional disturbing material that suggests a culture of racial bias among those who hold power in the city: according to the Associated Press, the report includes a 2008 message — which appears to be an attempt at humor — from a municipal email account that says President Obama wouldn't be in office long, because "what black man holds a steady job for four years."

See, this is exactly why government officials want to have private e-mail accounts...

Anyway, what's the answer to all these government problems ksen?

Shut the city down, disperse the population and plow the buildings under?

Wait, let me guess - more government.

 

[Nice Squirrel]

Or the police could stop thinking every black person is a hardened criminal and treat everyone with respect.

 

[Axulus]

Or the police could stop thinking every black person is a hardened criminal and treat everyone with respect.

And how do you get a police officer to stop thinking like that?

 

[ksen]

racism? what racism?

http://www.vox.com/2015/3/3/8144027/ferguson-investigation-obama-joke

See, this is exactly why government officials want to have private e-mail accounts...

Anyway, what's the answer to all these government problems ksen?

Shut the city down, disperse the population and plow the buildings under?

Wait, let me guess - more government.

equality under thw law would be a good start

 

[dismal]

See, this is exactly why government officials want to have private e-mail accounts...

Anyway, what's the answer to all these government problems ksen?

Shut the city down, disperse the population and plow the buildings under?

Wait, let me guess - more government.

equality under thw law would be a good start

Hmm, you mean like passing a Constitutional amendment that guarantees just that?

 

[Nice Squirrel]

equality under thw law would be a good start

Hmm, you mean like passing a Constitutional amendment that guarantees just that?

And the police would automatically begin following it?

 

[repoman]

I am asking this question in all seriousness:

Either where I live in downtown Seattle (as an example) has more young blacks loitering around than whites in ways that make me think that they

A.) need after school programs or need to go to one of their homes and hang out.
B.) are part of the training to get into the open air drug market scene.

I do understand that if you are in a more marginalized/dangerous demographic that you may correctly weigh the risk of getting caught by police lower than the higher risk of having drug clients come to your home and be able to kill you easily - especially over the small amounts that get traded on the street.

If you are a white rich kid of a doctor and lawyer and experiment with drugs you will be able to choose to avoid people who are more violent and unstable.

I think that these and other sociological factors is why poor blacks make themselves (not on purpose) easy targets for cops. Poor, unstable whites also do, but add being black...

 

[dismal]

Or the police could stop thinking every black person is a hardened criminal and treat everyone with respect.

And how do you get a police officer to stop thinking like that?

No need to speculate when we have the answer: A Task Force.

In addition, he put together a Task Force on 21st Century Policing and gave them 90 days to have meetings (that they insist on calling "listening sessions") for various parties to weigh in on how police can better serve their citizenry. Then they were to put together a report full of recommendations and suggestions for action. The report (pdf) was just released on Monday.

The introduction notes that given such a quick turnaround demand, their report was "sharp and necessarily limited. It concentrated on defining the cross-cutting issues affecting police-community interactions, questioning the contemporary relevance and truth about long-held assumptions about the nature and methods of policing, and identifying the areas where research is needed to highlight examples of evidence-based policing practices compatible with present realities."

http://reason.com/blog/2015/03/03/the-presidents-police-reform-dream-journ

 

[ksen]

equality under thw law would be a good start

Hmm, you mean like passing a Constitutional amendment that guarantees just that?

Nope, enforcing the laws that are on the books, as my immigration reform friends would say, would probably be a good place to start.

 

[laughing dog]

Having stop/arrest statistics different from population demographics is not in itself a sign of "systematic discrimination".

Good think the report doesn't say that.

But hey, I do not have particularly high expectations form Holder DOJ.

Of course not.

Not very surprising that a police force that is overwhelming white (over 90% at the time) for a population that is mostly black (over 60%) in the St. Louis area has such problems. At least not to the people I know who grew up or live there.

 

[Horatio Parker]

I would start by asking myself how many young black men hanging out is too many.

 

[AthenaAwakened]

I am asking this question in all seriousness:

Either where I live in downtown Seattle (as an example) has more young blacks loitering around than whites in ways that make me think that they

A.) need after school programs or need to go to one of their homes and hang out.
B.) are part of the training to get into the open air drug market scene.

I do understand that if you are in a more marginalized/dangerous demographic that you may correctly weigh the risk of getting caught by police lower than the higher risk of having drug clients come to your home and be able to kill you easily - especially over the small amounts that get traded on the street.

If you are a white rich kid of a doctor and lawyer and experiment with drugs you will be able to choose to avoid people who are more violent and unstable.

I think that these and other sociological factors is why poor blacks make themselves (not on purpose) easy targets for cops. Poor, unstable whites also do, but add being black...

have you done a head count?

 

[repoman]

If I do and I find that my gut feeling is correct, then what does this mean about how this subsection of blacks are making themselves easy targets for cops? Should the cops go after harder targets?

 

[AthenaAwakened]

If I do and I find that my gut feeling is correct, then what does this mean about how this subsection of blacks are making themselves easy targets for cops? Should the cops go after harder targets?

do the count and find out.

When I do diversity workshops, I show a picture of one hundred people, all different colors. The numbers of each color of people reflect the racial makeup of the US. I click to the next picture then I ask the class to estimate how many people of color were
in the picture. Acceptable answers are anywhere between a quarter and a third. Every class without fail (and I have been doing this now since '07, the majority of the class says the non white group is fifty percent or greater of the total group. And that holds whether the class members are white or not. White is the norm. We notice what is not the norm more than we notice the norm.