Interesting discussion about the Ferguson, Missouri PD

The lethal shooting of an unarmed young black man (again!) by a police officer--this time in Ferguson, MO--has of course been all over the news.

I am not passing judgment on the case because all the facts are not out.


Yet, I have stated that it does have something to do with the unbelievable militarization of the police. And of course it has something to do with stereotypes of crime rooted in the law and the media.


And most recently I said this: "By law, the amount of force that CAN be reasonably used is determined by the behavior of the suspect. If a person is not armed and is not using force that can lead to serious injury or death, he or she CANNOT be shot dead."

Yet, a police officer friend of mine replied: "Actually yes, by law they can. The law is interpreted that if the officer is in fear for his/her life....it's been done before and the media has not blown up about it....it is the same for a citizen."


And this really shook me up. Why?


Because it means that if a police officer is afraid, he or she can kill someone, even if the reason he or she is afraid has its roots in racism.


As shown in the book, the media create the impression that black people--and young black men in particular--are dangerous and thus scary. So when one runs at you or refuses to back down, you are now justified in shooting them? Even if the only reason you are afraid is because you have been constantly bombarded with images of dangerous black men over the course of your entire life?

Learning of racial disparities in punishment may lead to ...

... HIGHER support for that punishment!


So found a recent study summarized here:


According to a study done by Stanford University published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, concluded that if white people are presented with evidence of crime rate statistics that show African-Americans represent 40 percent of  the prison population, then they are  more likely to support harsher criminal policies.


From Stanford:

Stanford psychology researchers Rebecca Hetey and Jennifer Eberhardt found that when white people were told about these racial disparities, they reported being more afraid of crime and more likely to support the kinds of punitive policies that exacerbate the racial disparities.

This fits in nicely with research reported in the book that people are more likely to assume offenders reported in news stories are black when the race of the offender is not reported.


And it is more evidence that race still matters.

You think this is a post about that black guy that shot up the Washington Navy yard ...

... but it's not.

Not really.

Instead, it's about that black guy who was injured in a car accident, then sought help from a white woman at her house (she called 9 1 1 on him and said she thought he was breaking in), and then he was shot at 12 times by a police officer and hit 10 times (and killed).

Police: Cop shot unarmed man in Charlotte 10 times NBCNews.com (blog)-2 hours ago By Marti Maguire, Reuters. RALEIGH, N.C. — Civil rights leaders in North Carolina are calling for crime scene video evidence to be made ...

NC cop accused of shooting man 10 times due in court
CBS News-1 hour ago
Family of Man Shot by Charlotte Cop Wants Answers
ABC News-18 hours ago
Charlotte police kill ex-FAMU player who may have been running to ...
Highly Cited-CNN-Sep 15, 2013

 

Here's the story according to NBC News:

The incident began at about 2:30 a.m. Saturday, when Ferrell began knocking insistently on a front door in a suburban neighborhood of Charlotte, according to a police account.

The woman who lives there called 911, unaware that Ferrell had wrecked his car in nearby woods and was apparently seeking help. Three police officers arrived, and Ferrell ran toward them as they left their vehicles.

One officer unsuccessfully fired a Taser at Ferrell before Kerrick fired his gun, killing him, police said. Police found Ferrell's wrecked car later in the morning.
________________________________

Let's be clear what happened here.

A black man knocked on the door of a white woman's house in the middle of the night.

She assumed he was a criminal, so she called 9 1 1.

The police came.

They assumed he was a criminal.

So they killed him.

One officer has been charged with a crime, suggesting that, this time, the authorities are taking this seriously. Yes, the victim ran at the officers, but he was unarmed, and even though the Taser did not work, there was no reason to shoot the man (even if he was a criminal). After all, officers are trained in self-defense techniques and learn in the academy that lethal force can only be used under certain circumstances. This was not one of them.

Now, consider what the research shows about the media:

They focus on violent crime.
Especially random violent crime on the street.
Especially when it is committed against young of innocent white victims.
Especially when it is commited by people of color.

When the race of an offender is not known, people assume it is a black person.

Yes, it's that bad.

The image of the criminalblackman, discussed in the book, is well understood. And it is largely because of media coverage of crime.

Now you understand the stakes here: People die because of misconceptions of crime and dangerousness created by the media.

So, clearly, this case won't help (since almost all mass shooters are white):

the spotlight after Monday's shooting at the Navy Yard: the ...

Navy Yard shooter identified as Texas man, Aaron Alexis PBS NewsHour-7 hours ago Updated at 6:10 p.m. EDT: Earlier Monday, the U.S. Navy Office of Information released biographical information on Navy Yard shooter Aaron ...

 

 

Fascinating new book on race and criminal justice

In the media book, I show how the media focus on people of color far more than whites when it comes to crime. People of color tend to be portrayed as offenders, and white people tend to be depicted as victims as well as criminal justice personnel.

Just how bad is it? When the race of offenders is not identified, people tend to assume they are black; when the race of victims is not identified, people tend to assume they are white.

A new book--Justice in America: The Separate Realities of Blacks and Whites--shows how blacks and whites see the criminal justice system in very different ways. A recent interview with the authors by a reported with the Washington Post helps understand the significance of the work for issues including how people react so differently to national cases such as OJ Simpson and George Zimmerman.

In a nutshell, blacks are more aware of problems of the criminal justice system, are less supportive of it, more skeptical of its fairness, and why? Because of their personal experiences.

Read the stunning summary, including an exlanation of experiements that discover unconscious bias and stereotypes held by people here:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/07/22/white-people-believe-the-justice-system-is-color-blind-black-people-really-dont/

Danger: CRIMINALBLACKMAN

Katheryn Russell-Brown coined the term, criminalblackman, to refer to the image of a dangerous person in contemporary America.

As shown in this book, there is ample evidence that the mainstream media disproportionately focus on crimes committed by people of color, especially African Americans.

So when I got this email alert from the university police, it really caught my attention:

Campus Crime Alert

Appalachian State University Police Department

December 2, 2012

At approximately 5:55 pm this evening, a male student reported to ASU Police that he was walking on Holmes Drive when two unknown black male suspects physically knocked him down and stole money from his wallet. The incident occurred at the Holmes Convocation Center near the Faculty Street intersection. The male student reported that there were no weapons involved and the black male suspects fled the area in a red older model Jeep Cherokee. The suspects are described as follows: Suspect 1 is a black male early 20’s approximately 6’0, thin build with short hair wearing a red hooded sweatshirt and jeans; Suspect 2 is a black male early 20’s approximately 6’0, thin build with short hair wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and jeans. ASU Police are continuing to investigate the incident.

Anyone with information regarding this or any crime is encouraged to call the ASU Police
Department at (828) 262-2150, or you may also contact Crimestoppers at (828) 268-6959. If your information leads to an arrest, you may be eligible for a reward up to $1000.00.

You may also report crimes anonymously at:

 http://police.appstate.edu/crime-tip-submission-form.

 

Notification of a serious crime to the campus community is required by federal law.  

It is not the first description of the suspects that caught my attention, not is it the last describing suspects 1 and 2. It is the middle one, saying: "The male student reported that there were no weapons involved and the black male suspects fled the area in a red older model Jeep Cherokee."

Why not just say "there were no weapons involved and the suspects fled the area ..."

Because, yeah, we already know they are black males. So what is the point of saying that again? It's like someone writing this asked himself or herself, "How many times can we say they are black men?"

This is a great example of how race is used in the media to scare people.

If you don't think this has consequences, ask the surviving family members of Trayvon Martin or Jordan Russell Davis.

Be afraid, be very afraid.