5 Statistics About Police Officers Killing Blacks

 Created Date 12-Jan-2016
Problems in the USA that cause violence and deaths

Last Update 3-Jul-2021
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Sections

1 Addressing a Problem 2 Racism and Prejudices Real?
3 Church Leaders Speaking Against Retaliation 4 Purpose of Discussion
5 Correct Statistic Analysis For Consideration    

Addressing a Problem

This topic is addressing:

  1. Those in specific Political Groups who gain power through cultural and ethnicity demographics on perceived or real victimization towards American Citizens of African Descent,
  2. Media exploitation, by ethnicity, to increase viewership which generate advertising revenues.
  3. Entertainment industries in all other types of media which include movies, television, internet social websites and all the other internet websites, which have both a political agenda and revenue goal.

These three primary areas are causing fear by race along with undue hatred of policing organizations.  This topic will hopefully become irrelevant in the future and is pertinent to the period around 2016 going forward.

Racism and Prejudices Real?

Is Racism and Prejudices real?  Do people of specific racial backgrounds get treated differently or with disrespect during traffic violations?  Yes, on both rhetorical questions.  Does every Police Officer treat people differently because of racial background?  We know this is not a true statement.  

Some Black People would state that they cannot take chances with any Police Officer during any dialogue because of the multitudes of news stories of Blacks being killed by Police Officers.  Therefore, some Black People state that combative language, violence and fleeing should be excused.  This is a narrative being said in the court room as a defense in a criminal action and also stated on many news outlets.  This belief of excused altercations of any kind, is causing incidents like a routine traffic stop by Police Officers to escalate when the worst outcome should only be a possible traffic citation.  Nothing is worth the life of the any human being or a Police Officer. 

Church Leaders Speaking Against Retaliation?

In our Churches and by highly respected Leaders in the Christian Realm, Christians have been advocating that everyone, regardless of racial background, to always follow the established protocols of any dialogue with Police Officers.  The News Media, who arguably have an agenda to cause controversy for ratings purposes and their Political Bias, seem to never or rarely show videos by Christian leaders who want to remind people of proper civic duties to comply with proper procedures in all Police actions. 

As many of us view on TV or read about in the news media, there always seems to be adverse comments by "so called" spokespeople who use language that inflames hatred and violence towards Police Officers and the destruction of private and government property. 

Purpose of Discussion

The purpose of having this topic in Biblical Thoughts for God's Glory is to state that the slanted news media stories and well-intentioned celebrity actors / athletes, who too often use misinformation, are causing fear, arrests, destruction of property, robberies, assaults and deaths of innocent people of all racial backgrounds along with the deaths of Police Officers. The United States had a forward thinking, beloved and amazing leader Rev. Martin Luther King who said:

An individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law

Did Rev King's statement mean that it was permissible to break the law which included robberies, violence and murder?  Obviously, the Rev King was speaking about unjust civil laws and the possibility of being legally prosecuted for doing something righteous!  Additionally, Rev King knew what was needing to happen and being involved in an approach that was done righteously in a Godly perspective! 

We all need to continuously remember that Satanic Forces, that come against us all, are using every deception possible to cause strife, hatred and distrust between us all.  One more rhetorical question: Does being treated differently in a callous way because of racial origins give the right to act the same in return and possibly retaliate with violence?  During any encounter with law enforcement, there is absolutely no:

because of racial background to allow retribution and violence.  Our lives are too important and the opportunities to be part of the work of the Holy Spirit in the plans of God for our lives are at stake with eternal rewards awaiting us all who do good. 

For those who thirst for justice because of the evil deeds and words done by those who are prejudice and racists, we need to remember, find comfort and forgiveness in God's Word.  Additionally, anyone who lacks wisdom, should ask any mature Christian about sewing and reaping which this author has seen where even if we do not see consequences for evil, we know that God is not mocked!  We need to be thankful for Grace and Mercy, but they only apply to those who are a true Christian who is repenting, sorrowful, ashamed and trying to make restitution.

Those who commit evil will not have peace in their lives and will suffer consequences, even if they are a Christian.  This author, as I have matured, have been astounded on the exactness of God handling consequences that are seen everywhere, and read in many places in the scriptures such as the consequences Jacob received in his cheating to get the birth right.

It is a necessity to forgive others no matter what is done unto to you and others.

Romans 12:19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”
Matthew 6:14-15 For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.
 

Correct Statistic Analysis For Consideration

http://www.dailywire.com/news/7264/5-statistics-you-need-know-about-cops-killing-aaron-bandler#.V4J3CEA-0GQ.email

Below is a copy of the article link, in case it goes offline.  It is mentioned here to help matters dealing with the anger felt and hopefully will curb the violence:

Here are five key statistics you need to know about cops killing blacks.

1. Cops killed nearly twice as many whites as blacks in 2015. According to data compiled by The Washington Post, 50 percent of the victims of fatal police shootings were white, while 26 percent were black. The majority of these victims had a gun or "were armed or otherwise threatening the officer with potentially lethal force," according to MacDonald in a speech at Hillsdale College.

Some may argue that these statistics are evidence of racist treatment toward blacks, since whites consist of 62 percent of the population and blacks make up 13 percent of the population. But as MacDonald writes in The Wall Street Journal, 2009 statistics from the Bureau of Justice Statistics reveal that blacks were charged with 62 percent of robberies, 57 percent of murders and 45 percent of assaults in the 75 biggest counties in the country, despite only comprising roughly 15 percent of the population in these counties.

"Such a concentration of criminal violence in minority communities means that officers will be disproportionately confronting armed and often resisting suspects in those communities, raising officers’ own risk of using lethal force," writes MacDonald.

MacDonald also pointed out in her Hillsdale speech that blacks "commit 75 percent of all shootings, 70 percent of all robberies, and 66 percent of all violent crime" in New York City, even though they consist of 23 percent of the city's population.

"The black violent crime rate would actually predict that more than 26 percent of police victims would be black," MacDonald said. "Officer use of force will occur where the police interact most often with violent criminals, armed suspects, and those resisting arrest, and that is in black neighborhoods."

2. More whites and Hispanics die from police homicides than blacks. According to MacDonald, 12 percent of white and Hispanic homicide deaths were due to police officers, while only four percent of black homicide deaths were the result of police officers.

"If we’re going to have a 'Lives Matter' anti-police movement, it would be more appropriately named "White and Hispanic Lives Matter,'" said MacDonald in her Hillsdale speech.

3. The Post's data does show that unarmed black men are more likely to die by the gun of a cop than an unarmed white man...but this does not tell the whole story. In August 2015, the ratio was seven-to-one of unarmed black men dying from police gunshots compared to unarmed white men; the ratio was six-to-one by the end of 2015. But MacDonald points out in The Marshall Project that looking at the details of the actual incidents that occurred paints a different picture:

The “unarmed” label is literally accurate, but it frequently fails to convey highly-charged policing situations. In a number of cases, if the victim ended up being unarmed, it was certainly not for lack of trying. At least five black victims had reportedly tried to grab the officer’s gun, or had been beating the cop with his own equipment. Some were shot from an accidental discharge triggered by their own assault on the officer. And two individuals included in the Post’s “unarmed black victims” category were struck by stray bullets aimed at someone else in justified cop shootings. If the victims were not the intended targets, then racism could have played no role in their deaths.

In one of those unintended cases, an undercover cop from the New York Police Department was conducting a gun sting in Mount Vernon, just north of New York City. One of the gun traffickers jumped into the cop’s car, stuck a pistol to his head, grabbed $2,400 and fled. The officer gave chase and opened fire after the thief again pointed his gun at him. Two of the officer’s bullets accidentally hit a 61-year-old bystander, killing him. That older man happened to be black, but his race had nothing to do with his tragic death. In the other collateral damage case, Virginia Beach, Virginia, officers approached a car parked at a convenience store that had a homicide suspect in the passenger seat. The suspect opened fire, sending a bullet through an officer’s shirt. The cops returned fire, killing their assailant as well as a woman in the driver’s seat. That woman entered the Post’s database without qualification as an “unarmed black victim” of police fire.

MacDonald examines a number of other instances, including unarmed black men in San Diego, CA and Prince George's County, MD attempting to reach for a gun in a police officer's holster. In the San Diego case, the unarmed black man actually "jumped the officer" and assaulted him, and the cop shot the man since he was "fearing for his life." MacDonald also notes that there was an instance in 2015 where "three officers were killed with their own guns, which the suspects had wrestled from them."

4. Black and Hispanic police officers are more likely to fire a gun at blacks than white officers. This is according to a Department of Justice report in 2015 about the Philadelphia Police Department, and is further confirmed that by a study conducted University of Pennsylvania criminologist Greg Ridgeway in 2015 that determined black cops were 3.3 times more likely to fire a gun than other cops at a crime scene. 

5. Blacks are more likely to kill cops than be killed by cops. This is according to FBI data, which also found that 40 percent of cop killers are black. According to MacDonald, the police officer is 18.5 times more likely to be killed by a black than a cop killing an unarmed black person.

Despite the facts, the anti-police rhetoric of Black Lives Matter and their leftist sympathizers have resulted in what MacDonald calls the "Ferguson Effect," as murders have spiked by 17 percent among the 50 biggest cities in the U.S. as a result of cops being more reluctant to police neighborhoods out of fear of being labeled as racists. Additionally, there have been over twice as many cops victimized by fatal shootings in the first three months of 2016.

Anti-police rhetoric has deadly consequences.

This article has been modified to correct Greg Ridgeway's name.

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