Gloria Browne-Marshall stated that historically, American society has criminalized black
behavior, therefore, the public and law enforcement agencies have been brain-washed into to associating blacks with criminality. She said that because there are more whites in the country,
overall they commit more crimes, yet their encounters with the police are not being reported nor
entered into the system’s database. Browne-Marshall argued that there is a double standard of
policies when dealing with whites in the suburban neighborhoods committing crimes,
particularly those drug-related, and the treatment of minorities from the inner-cities. Although
possession is a crime, she said that there is a policy of counseling for individuals from…show more content… She said an officer’s interaction with the public is determined by the levels of disorder, not by population, and more often police action is required in minority urban communities than in white neighborhoods. MacDonald explained that law enforcement will respond differently depending if the community complains about a group of teenagers just hanging out or if residents fear a crowd that is rowdy and behaving in a disorderly manner. However, Stern said that there is no disparity in police behavior when responding to violent crimes, whether they occur in the suburbs or in the cities. He stated that 100 percent of all homicides and armed robberies are reported and the information is collected and entered into the database, regardless of the offender. Therefore, you cannot ignore statistics because they are subjective, not racially biased. Stern reiterated that data analysis shows that violent crimes are committed in “hugely disproportionate numbers by African-Americans compared to their place in the population”. Therefore, officers working in these high crime neighborhoods are frequently attacked and killed by armed and resisting suspects when conducting an investigation or attempting to make an arrest. According to MacDonald, the number of officers shot by suspects rose by 50 percent and black males make up 40 percent of…show more content… Heather MacDonald and Harry Stern argued that contemporary policing is data driven, therefore, race is not a factor in determining the incidences of police activity. They supported their position that there is no evidence of systemic bias with data analysis that shows the disparities in the patterns of offending, particularly regarding violent felonies, is the principal reason there is such a significant number of blacks arrested, convicted and imprisoned compared to whites and other groups. Contrary to the “Black Lives Matter” narrative, police are more likely to confront an armed, violent, and resisting suspect when they respond to a call for assistance, which happens more often in minority neighborhoods. MacDonald and Stern warned the public that as a result of the false narrative, violent crimes will continue to rise because officers are backing off proactive policing. They agreed that officers require not only training to ensure they perform their duties respectfully and within the confines of the law, but tactical training that improves their ability to make split second decisions. Stern said that public policy needs to address the socio-economic issues of poverty if crime rates are going to be lowered among
