Cops Score Lower on Racism

than the general public. That’s not to say that cops aren’t prejudiced or seemingly trigger happy against Black people. They are merely somewhat less so due to their training and possibly by serving on integrated police forces.

The Science of Why Cops Shoot Young Black Men by Chris Mooney in Mother Jones supplies more information and food for thought than few people, regardless of political affiliation, are willing to comprehend.

As these experiments suggest, it is not that we are either prejudiced or unprejudiced, period. Rather, we are more and less prejudiced, based on our upbringings and experiences but also on a variety of temporary or situational prompts …

Mooney, includes methods and implications for how implicit negative associations with regard to race, class, and gender can be reduced. And not just because that’s the right thing to do, but also because:

Prejudice and essentialism are bad for your brain–if you value creative thinking, anyway. But they can also be downright dangerous.

IOW – prejudices create stupid and uncreative people and not the other way round. There’s a bestseller in this: “The Simple Secret To Raising Smarter Kids – and increase your IQ at the same time”

Anyone counting on young people (ages 18-24) to lead this country away from racism, needs to think again. Other than those over age 65, that age demographic is the most biased. The least biased group are those that self-identify as “strongly liberal.” Slightly-moderately-strongly conservatives are the most biased and are like white people in general.

Do go and read Mooney’s article. There’s much in it to discuss. Far more than the title suggests. I could go off in several directions from it, but discussions interest me more than writing an unread monologue.

8 Comments

seabe on December 1, 2014 at 9:44 pm

I can’t remember what I got on the race-based IAT the last time I took it, but I think there was some bias. I know when I last took the gender one I got “you have no association for either gender for family or career”, so no bias there.

Anyway, this is a long read. Thanks for sharing, will post thoughts later. As a preliminary of what you’ve quoted? Not terribly surprising.

Oui on December 2, 2014 at 7:27 am

Chris Mooney see also his biography in Wikipedia.

A book review of his 2005 NY Times bestseller –
The Republican Brain by Chris Mooney

○ Politicization of Science in the Public Sphere: A Study of Public Trust in the United States, 1974 to 2010 [pdf]

In the United States there is a structure in place where state laws nd penal code perpetuate the bias against Afro-Americans. See this study:

○ OHCHR: Structural Discrimination against people of African descent in respect of access to education [word doc.]

cruzy on December 2, 2014 at 10:59 am

Actions speak louder than psychological tests…

Marie2 on December 2, 2014 at 11:25 am

Is this a response to anything specific in Mooney’s article?

You think there is a body-brain divide? Or a body-environment/culture divide? On an individual basis, psych tests aren’t predictive of behavior. However, some psych tests do highlight predispositions for certain behaviors. If LEO forces were made up of individuals that score high on psych tests for prejudice, LEO violence would increase.

Marie2 on December 2, 2014 at 3:23 pm

Putting into place systems/structures that confirm the findings of the research cited by Mooney:

Police Violence Is Not Inevitable: Four Ways a California Police Chief Connected Cops With Communities. One note: Police Chief Chris Magnus was hired with the support of then Richmond City Council member and future mayor, Gayle McLaughlin, a Green Party member, and Richmond has a long history of high levels of violent crime. Full article is worth the few minutes it takes to read. A couple of excerpts that are particular relevance to this diary,

…
Police violence, in particular, is way down. Despite making thousands of arrests each year and confiscating one gun or more every day, the Richmond Police Department has averaged less than one officer-involved shooting per year since 2008. On September 6, The Contra Costa Times ran a story citing these and other statistics under the headline “Use of Deadly Force by Police Disappears on Richmond Streets.”
…
Andrés Soto, a native of Richmond and a leading environmental justice campaigner, says the city has come a long way from the days when “there were not a lot of professional standards” in the hiring of new officers. Back then, he says, Richmond employed too many “ex-military, thuggish cops and rednecks” whose behavior led to costly police brutality cases and civil rights settlements.

As chief, Magnus has made it a top priority to hire and promote more women, Asians, Latinos, and African Americans.

“When you have a department that doesn’t look anything like the community it serves, you’re asking for trouble, no matter how dedicated and professional your employees are,” he says. “So an ongoing mission for us here is to hire the highest-quality people that represent that diversity of the community, across the board. I don’t even just mean from a racial, ethnic, or gender standpoint. I mean in terms of life experiences, being connected to neighborhoods, growing up either in Richmond or cities like Richmond.”
…
Magnus has consistently promoted new training programs and the acquisition of nonlethal weaponry, including Tasers and pepper spray, designed to minimize the use of deadly force.
…
To conduct this training, Magnus has enlisted the services of University of South Florida criminologist Lorie Fridell, who has researched and written about the problem of law enforcement officers acting unfairly based on unconscious associations between members of racial minorities and crime. [emphasis added]
…

Marie2 on December 2, 2014 at 11:12 pm

If you read Mooney’s article, you may be interested in checking out what the same thinking style of leads to for those that immerse themselves in simplistic notions of good and evil —

Adam Curtis’ The Power of Nightmares Part 1 – Baby It’s Cold Outside.

Ordinary folks that engage in CT are pikers compared to the neoconservatives and those that inspired the al Qaeda type Muslims.

Oui on December 3, 2014 at 5:13 am

UN Committee Against Torture Calls Out U.S. Government and the City of Chicago on the Burge Torture Cases | Dec. 1, 2014 |

On Friday, November 28, 2014, the United Nations Committee Against Torture (UN CAT) condemned the U.S. Government and the City of Chicago for failing to provide sufficient redress to those who were tortured by notorious former Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge and the detectives under his command. This is the second time in eight years that the UN Committee has condemned the U.S. Government for failing to fulfill its obligations under the Convention Against Torture with respect to the Burge torture cases.

Last week the UN Committee noted that the “vast majority of those tortured,” most of who are African American, “have received no compensation for the extensive injuries they suffered.” (see Paragraph 26). The UN Committee called on the U.S. Government to provide redress to the Burge torture survivors by supporting the passage of the Ordinance seeking Reparations for the Chicago Police Torture Survivors that is currently pending in Chicago City Council’s Finance Committee.

In May of 2006, the UN Committee had addressed the Burge torture cases and condemned the “limited investigation and lack of prosecution.” It called on the U.S. Government to “bring the perpetrators to justice.”

In June 2010, Burge was convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice for falsely denying that he and others engaged in acts of torture. He was sentenced to serve 4 ½ years in prison. In October 2014, Burge was released from federal prison after serving less than 3 ½ years.

In its most recent findings, the UN Committee also noted that the U.S. Government failed to prosecute any other officers responsible for torture under Burge’s regime because federal authorities allowed the statute of limitations to expire.

Court upholds $3000 a month pension for Chicago cop in torture case

h/t RT

Marie2 on December 3, 2014 at 11:10 am

Hasn’t the UN noticed that “we torture some folks?” And don’t hold but a few of the torturers accountable and then punishment is limited. (Note: Burge wasn’t convicted for torturing suspects in police custody and did win the civil suit one of the torture victims filed against Burge and others.)

While not devoid of racism, IMHO the “blue line” is an institution that protects police from the standard rule of law. Not a formally separate judicial system like the military operates, but operationally close enough. Civilian juries may be even more reluctant to convict a LEO than the military convicts one of its own. As long as people continue to put all their energy into trying to fight one incident of police violence at a time and not the institutions that in a myriad of ways support the violence, nothing changes and the LEO perp is hardly ever punished.

seabe on December 1, 2014 at 9:44 pm

I can’t remember what I got on the race-based IAT the last time I took it, but I think there was some bias. I know when I last took the gender one I got “you have no association for either gender for family or career”, so no bias there.

Anyway, this is a long read. Thanks for sharing, will post thoughts later. As a preliminary of what you’ve quoted? Not terribly surprising.
Oui on December 2, 2014 at 7:27 am

Chris Mooney see also his biography in Wikipedia.

A book review of his 2005 NY Times bestseller –
The Republican Brain by Chris Mooney

○ Politicization of Science in the Public Sphere: A Study of Public Trust in the United States, 1974 to 2010 [pdf]

In the United States there is a structure in place where state laws nd penal code perpetuate the bias against Afro-Americans. See this study:

○ OHCHR: Structural Discrimination against people of African descent in respect of access to education [word doc.]
cruzy on December 2, 2014 at 10:59 am

Actions speak louder than psychological tests…
- Marie2 on December 2, 2014 at 11:25 am
  
  Is this a response to anything specific in Mooney’s article?
  
  You think there is a body-brain divide? Or a body-environment/culture divide? On an individual basis, psych tests aren’t predictive of behavior. However, some psych tests do highlight predispositions for certain behaviors. If LEO forces were made up of individuals that score high on psych tests for prejudice, LEO violence would increase.
Marie2 on December 2, 2014 at 3:23 pm

Putting into place systems/structures that confirm the findings of the research cited by Mooney:

Police Violence Is Not Inevitable: Four Ways a California Police Chief Connected Cops With Communities. One note: Police Chief Chris Magnus was hired with the support of then Richmond City Council member and future mayor, Gayle McLaughlin, a Green Party member, and Richmond has a long history of high levels of violent crime. Full article is worth the few minutes it takes to read. A couple of excerpts that are particular relevance to this diary,

…
Police violence, in particular, is way down. Despite making thousands of arrests each year and confiscating one gun or more every day, the Richmond Police Department has averaged less than one officer-involved shooting per year since 2008. On September 6, The Contra Costa Times ran a story citing these and other statistics under the headline “Use of Deadly Force by Police Disappears on Richmond Streets.”
…
Andrés Soto, a native of Richmond and a leading environmental justice campaigner, says the city has come a long way from the days when “there were not a lot of professional standards” in the hiring of new officers. Back then, he says, Richmond employed too many “ex-military, thuggish cops and rednecks” whose behavior led to costly police brutality cases and civil rights settlements.

As chief, Magnus has made it a top priority to hire and promote more women, Asians, Latinos, and African Americans.

“When you have a department that doesn’t look anything like the community it serves, you’re asking for trouble, no matter how dedicated and professional your employees are,” he says. “So an ongoing mission for us here is to hire the highest-quality people that represent that diversity of the community, across the board. I don’t even just mean from a racial, ethnic, or gender standpoint. I mean in terms of life experiences, being connected to neighborhoods, growing up either in Richmond or cities like Richmond.”
…
Magnus has consistently promoted new training programs and the acquisition of nonlethal weaponry, including Tasers and pepper spray, designed to minimize the use of deadly force.
…
To conduct this training, Magnus has enlisted the services of University of South Florida criminologist Lorie Fridell, who has researched and written about the problem of law enforcement officers acting unfairly based on unconscious associations between members of racial minorities and crime. [emphasis added]
…
Marie2 on December 2, 2014 at 11:12 pm

If you read Mooney’s article, you may be interested in checking out what the same thinking style of leads to for those that immerse themselves in simplistic notions of good and evil —

Adam Curtis’ The Power of Nightmares Part 1 – Baby It’s Cold Outside.

Ordinary folks that engage in CT are pikers compared to the neoconservatives and those that inspired the al Qaeda type Muslims.
Oui on December 3, 2014 at 5:13 am

UN Committee Against Torture Calls Out U.S. Government and the City of Chicago on the Burge Torture Cases | Dec. 1, 2014 |

On Friday, November 28, 2014, the United Nations Committee Against Torture (UN CAT) condemned the U.S. Government and the City of Chicago for failing to provide sufficient redress to those who were tortured by notorious former Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge and the detectives under his command. This is the second time in eight years that the UN Committee has condemned the U.S. Government for failing to fulfill its obligations under the Convention Against Torture with respect to the Burge torture cases.

Last week the UN Committee noted that the “vast majority of those tortured,” most of who are African American, “have received no compensation for the extensive injuries they suffered.” (see Paragraph 26). The UN Committee called on the U.S. Government to provide redress to the Burge torture survivors by supporting the passage of the Ordinance seeking Reparations for the Chicago Police Torture Survivors that is currently pending in Chicago City Council’s Finance Committee.

In May of 2006, the UN Committee had addressed the Burge torture cases and condemned the “limited investigation and lack of prosecution.” It called on the U.S. Government to “bring the perpetrators to justice.”

In June 2010, Burge was convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice for falsely denying that he and others engaged in acts of torture. He was sentenced to serve 4 ½ years in prison. In October 2014, Burge was released from federal prison after serving less than 3 ½ years.

In its most recent findings, the UN Committee also noted that the U.S. Government failed to prosecute any other officers responsible for torture under Burge’s regime because federal authorities allowed the statute of limitations to expire.

Court upholds $3000 a month pension for Chicago cop in torture case

h/t RT
- Marie2 on December 3, 2014 at 11:10 am
  
  Hasn’t the UN noticed that “we torture some folks?” And don’t hold but a few of the torturers accountable and then punishment is limited. (Note: Burge wasn’t convicted for torturing suspects in police custody and did win the civil suit one of the torture victims filed against Burge and others.)
  
  While not devoid of racism, IMHO the “blue line” is an institution that protects police from the standard rule of law. Not a formally separate judicial system like the military operates, but operationally close enough. Civilian juries may be even more reluctant to convict a LEO than the military convicts one of its own. As long as people continue to put all their energy into trying to fight one incident of police violence at a time and not the institutions that in a myriad of ways support the violence, nothing changes and the LEO perp is hardly ever punished.

Cops Score Lower on Racism

About The Author

Marie2

8 Comments

Recent Posts

Recent Comments