Misuse of statistics in Ferguson

Water Cooler
#21

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#22

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#23

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#24

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#25

I think both variables are at play. Crimes are committed at different rates (the variable here is likely socioeconomic status and not pigment, but there is differing levels of pigment in these categories) and cops are more likely to find crimes because they look more.

#26

I have unintentionally attended the NYC Puerto Rican Day Parade and 1/2 those people are drunk too and the cops don’t bother them.

#27

“Your logic seems to be that since the proportion of arrests are skewed towards black people then black people must be more likely to commit a crime than white people.”

No. This is a false interpretation of the above comments (at least mine). Black people ARE more likely to commit crimes than white people. This is an empirical fact. Higher arrest rates of black people are a response to this. Furthermore, an even higher arrest or traffic stop rate of black people (that is higher than the extra percentage of crimes by black people) is justified, since these are more likely to reveal crimes.

#28

I know it’s illegal to report, but it would be interesting to see insurance claim statistics based on race. Perhaps blacks are overall less safe drivers, are more likely to commit traffic violations, and therefore are pulled over at disproportionately high rates? I know that in my neck of the woods there seems to be a high correlation betwen blacks in 20 year old cars and crossing several lanes all at once without using a turn signal.

#29

whats with the spam ? is the AF board now discriminating against your ability to post?

#30

By this reasoning, we would expect that predominately black neighborhoods would not have higher crime overall. Is there some sort of conspiracy to falsify crime *reports* in predominantly black neighborhoods? Or perhaps are crime reports from predominantly white neighborhoods being suppressed?

#31

It’s a socioeconomic issue not a “race” issue. Whatever the term race really means, because we are all of the same species. You can be more genetically related to a person of a different skin color than someone of the same skin color (look it up). That being said, due to the long history of subjugation; there are more poor blacks than poor whites.

Another way to look at this is that crimes rates in wealthly black communities are the same as those in wealthy white communities. It’s not because they are black, it’s because they are poor.

#32

“In cases like jaywalking, which often hinge on police discretion, blacks accounted for 95 percent of all arrests.”

This one here does prove something because everyone jaywalks but obviously certain people were being singled out.

#33

^you don’t get arrested for jaywalking… If you get “pulled over” for jaywalking and get arrested, it’s because you have outstanding warrants or are in possession of something you are not allowed to possess.

#34

This does seem to be why the sentencing statistics by race are a more reliable indicator of systemic racism than arrests and searches (which may be racially skewed or racially motivated, but are just harder statistics to analyze). With sentencing statistics, the general conclusion seems to be that blacks get harsher sentencing for simiar crimes than whites of similar socio-economic backgrounds.

The issue with Ferguson is that apparently the grand jury felt there wasn’t enough evidence even to have a trial. That’s an amazingly low standard for letting cops shoot someone. I agree that cops need to be able to use lethal force to protect themselves, but when someone dies in a situation like this, it is odd that it doesn’t go to trial. Are police shootings that common over there? (maybe they are)

#35

^I think there’s been 4 or 5 police shootings since Michael Brown’s in, or very close to, St. Louis.

#36

How does this explain Africa? Sure you could argue that the entire continent was “subjugated”, but how does one continent gain the ability to subjugate another? Why wasn’t Asia subjugated by Europe? And if you argue that Asia *was* subjugated (because certain areas like Vietnam were controlled by Europe), why is it that Asians are actually *wealthier* than whites in the US (as measured by income)? Surely you can’t claim that Asians weren’t subjugated in the US, either.

#37

“You don’t know the POWER of the bad logic…”

#38

“you don’t get arrested for jaywalking”…this is 100% FALSE!!!

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/city-hit-5m-lawsuit-jaywalk-arrest-article-1.1911226

#39

“How does this explain Africa?” What the F are you talking about? You either fell asleep during history class or went to a 100% white school where history was white-washed. Inspite of decades of colonial rule, slavery and political intereference; Africa has some of the fastest growing economies.

You need to read the book “King Leopolds Ghost”, just one example of how African countries were dominated, people’s limbs were cut off and all other manner of atrocities.

#40

@Would You Look, They were essentially arresting only (95%) black people for jaywalking…It’s so ridiculous and obviously racist that even you don’t want to accept that they were actually arresting people for that. It was a way for the Feguson PD to make money. Please tell me if there is one person here who hasn’t jaywalked?