It seems more and more to me that nobody cares about data. Or, that people are very inefficient with the amount of time and energy they dedicate to something that is trivial relative to other causes they could support.
The last good study I saw regarding police violence showed that out of 100,000 stops, 1.8 white people die from homicide, and 3.4 black people. The study does not have many other factors to consider (such as # of resisted arrests per race, etc.) which could also explain the difference.
Either way, homicides at arrest are an extremely rare event. However, nowadays with everyone videoing everything and media feasting on sensationalism, we hear about almost every instance of a black death. We also only hear the sensational stories that support an agenda, instead of every one (e.g. a very similar story a couple of days ago was in the media of a white person unfairly killed at an arrest but did not get promoted to a nationwide story).
I’m not 100% convinced that the statistics are purely about racism, but there is an 80% increase in the homicides per arrest for blacks (even though still very rare). That seems enough to justify looking into the issue in more detail, and consider other factors. What are the common factors on homicides at arrest? Which factors can be controlled? (e.g. less lethal weapon use)
Also, it’s great that people have a variety of causes about which they are passionate. Every issue should receive attention from those passionate about it. However, it’s not great that our collective exposure to issues are based on sensationalism rather than the magnitude of the effect. That exposure then embroils people just because it is in their face constantly. That follows on with political and policy actions to respond to these sensational stories, taking away energy on the much larger issues that affect many more of us.
In politics, traditional & social media, I’ve never experienced such mob mentality as we’ve had since 2008. Hardly anyone cares to look at data, think objectively, or even care to prioritize resources. That is very concerning, and is what mostly motivates me to post things on my social media feeds – even though it doesn’t seem to have an effect.
Please, please educate yourself a bit before jumping to a conclusion or forming a strong opinion that you then debate or promulgate online – fueling more of the same behavior. Discern what articles and reports are based on good evidence before just believing them. Consider what matters to you more of all the issues we have on this world and focus your energies on improving them. Many more of you are affected by the results of dietary guidance, nutrition, lack of exercise, mental health, etc – I can only imagine how many lives we could improve and save if we spent half the energy we do on these sensational issues.