doesn't disprove it either. And those number do indicate something besides basic police work and chance is at work. And then of course there is that pesky little thing called history. Gosh darn it.
It's not like we are dealing with random things.
now that is true.
When they find whites in drug territory it's usually an easy bust, they'll see the buy and then scoop up the buyer. Basically 100% chance of contraband. There's no corresponding easy bust for blacks.
are you saying black people aren't being busted for drugs?
And *WHY* are they arrested?
Loren that is the point of contention. Do try to keep up.
How many are for outstanding warrants?
you tell us.
I heard about a similar report this morning for the state of IL, claiming higher search rates yet lower found-drug "hit" rates for blacks than whites. At first, I thought that seem rather damning, but then I realized that factors like suspicious behavior and shitty/abusive initial attitudes towards the cops are major determinants of whether a traffic stop leads to a search.
if black people didn't have bad attitudes , cops wouldn't have to kill us. But bad attitudes are a high crime and deserving of capital punishment. the police, the trained professional who are supposed to be well versed in de-escalation technique have no power of the force of the black bad attitude and must therefore shoot and kill.
And what do black people have to feel out of sorts about? Not like there has ever been anything any police officer has ever done to any black person, past or present, that should make a black person guarded or even a teensy bit anxious. And since all black people know cops have guns and will shot them, heaven forbid they don't just acquiesce and be happy, smiling ... Citizens.
Questioning public servants when you have done nothing wrong or asserting the rights of citizens not to be harassed, that's not for black people. Nor is the right to have a bad day or a bad attitude. That's for other people.
None of this has any relevance to what I said or to the issue of why blacks are searched more often during stops. If a person bad mouths or hassles a cop who asks for licence and registration, they are going to be far more likely to get searched, no matter what color they are. Whether this is appropriate by the cop is irrelevant to how it related to differential search rates. If blacks who get stopped are more likely to have such a reaction, then they will be more likely to be searched, not because they are black but because of such a reaction. Why they engage in the reaction is also not relevant to the search in question. If they are upset about 500 years of oppression and suspect racism by the cop (whether justified or not) and this makes them have such a reaction, then they will be more likely to get searched, and again that search will not be triggered by their race but by their reaction. Notice that about 90% of blacks who are stopped do not get search. They are all black, so being black is not why those that get searched are searched. The individual person's reaction to the cops is one factor that could play a role, but the whole point of my post is that even without this speculative but plausible factor that could create different search rates, the actual data posted provide more than enough direct evidence of differences that more than warrant to greater search rates without race having anything to do with it.
The data in this table add even more reason to doubt that the discrepancy in searches and arrests is racial profiling. First, "contraband" includes merely having a joint or an empty beer can in the back seat or even a 6 pack in the trunk if the driver is under 21. But contraband also includes having a weapon or stolen property. If we exclude the drug/alcohol category of "contraband", then blacks who are pulled over are twice as likely as whites to have weapons or stolen property. Then there is the age difference. 40% of the whites that are stopped are over the age of 40, whereas only 27% of blacks stopped are that old.
Then there is the reason for the stop. Whites are more likely to be stopped for a specific traffic or equipment violation, whereas blacks are about twice as likely than whites to be stopped due to the car not having a proper licence/registration or as part of investigating a suspected crime (more on that in minute). Then we come to outstanding warrants. Blacks in a traffic stop are 4 times as likely to have an outstanding warrant, which accounts for far more arrests than all other reasons combined. Not only do the warrants fully account for the higher arrest rates during a stop, but they also would contribute greatly to the car/person being searched.
In sum, the data show plenty of justified non-racial profiling reasons why blacks would be more likely to be searched and arrested once pulled over. The only thing that remains "suspicious" is why blacks are more likely to be pulled over for non-traffic "investigation" reasons. More detail from the police reports is needed to determine that, especially specifics about what parts of town the stops are being made in. Given that in almost every town or city blacks drive more often in the areas where the most ongoing criminal activity is being reported and investigated, it isn't surprising that they would be more likely to be pulled over while cops are in these areas investigated reported robberies, shooting, drug deals, etc..
Are there racist cops in America targeting blacks? Very likely. Is this data evidence of that? No.
Actually they are. You could argue the numbers are not conclusive, but not that they are not evidence.
They are not just inconclusive, they are not at all suggestive of racial profiling in terms of the differential search and arrest rates. Yes, they are "evidence", but evidence strongly in favor of the opposing theory that the cops are justified in their greater searches and arrests based solely upon outstanding warrants for prior crimes and the double odds of a weapon or stolen property in the vehicle. As soon as they run the license, they know there is a warrant and for what prior crime. They are required to arrest those with warrants and searches will be part of that process given that the warrant will likely give more than enough probable cause.
So, there is no room for discretion there in which the racism of the cop can play a role. So, we (rationally) should (which means you will not) subtract the incidents where their is an outstanding warrant and thus and arrest and search is essentially mandated. When we do that, we find that white people without warrants are searched 5% of the time, while black people without warrants are only searched 4% of the time. IOW, if the "evidence" suggests anything, it suggests racism-motivated searches against white drivers.
why are black folk being pulled over to begin with?
I addressed that along with the clear evidence showing non-race motivated searches and arrests that you completely ignored and somehow pretend is still in favor of your preferred hypothesis.
First, warrants come up when a plate is run and can be the cause of the stop to begin with. So, the fact that blacks are much more likely to have a warrant makes them more likely to get pulled over, searched, and arrested. IT alone accounts for it all without even having to consider the added fact of more probable gun and stolen property possession or their reaction to being pulled over, or the difference in where they are driving, their younger age, etc.. But all of these other factors could easily add to their likelihood of being pulled over without the cops factoring in their race. Heck I didn't even mention the number of passengers or the hours at which they are driving, both of which are generally related to age (younger drivers having more passengers cruising late at night), and thus likely related to race since the stats show that the biggest discrepancy is among drivers 18-29 years old.
And why is Michael Brown dead?
Clearly for reasons unrelated to the stats in question, since they show the discrepancy is entirely due to higher warrant rates and prior criminal behavior by black drivers, and Brown had no warrants and wasn't driving. Perhaps racism was a part of his death, but your desire to "prove" that is making you point to data that lend zero support for that belief and if anything undermine it. At minimum, Brown's deliberate refusal to cooperate and resist detention (which was admitted to by his friend that was walking with him) was a major contributor to his death. Given the admitted refusal to cooperate, it lends credence to the cops claim of a physical altercation. The cop also says that struggle inside his cruiser led to an initial gun shot inside the cruiser. That should be easy to verify and hard to account for without such a struggle, unless the cop thought to fire a shot inside his car after-the-fact in some kind of very clever cover story. Did the cop act unreasonably and too aggressively at the start or any other point? Maybe, we have no data in it. Even if true, is that evidence of racism. Not unless cops never act overly aggressive with with people who resist detention. Was the cop racist? Maybe, but if so it isn't evidence that the vehicle search numbers are anything other than a rational analysis shows them to be, which is cops responding to outstanding warrants.
