Posted on 02/19/2023 4:14:47 PM PST by karpov
Since 2015, the Washington Post has been carefully tracking fatal police shootings in the United States. Their database includes over 8,000 cases. If you ignore those where the race and/or sex of the victim are unknown, the demographic breakdown is as follows:
• White males = 3,106 • Black males = 1,707 • Asian males = 121 • Native American males = 99 • White females = 192 • Black females = 58 • Asian females = 8 • Native American females = 6
There’s obviously a huge disparity between the sexes, which is evident in all four racial groups. But aside from sex, what explains the variation in these data? (I’m ignoring Hispanics for reasons that will become apparent later.)
One possibility is population. Whites are still the largest racial group, and native Americans the smallest, so perhaps that explains why they’re at opposite ends of the distribution (when controlling for sex).
The chart below plots fatal police shootings against population for the eight demographic groups. Population is the value for 2015. Both variables were logged to reduce skewness.
There’s a fairly strong correlation between the two variables (r = .64), though it’s not statistically significant due to the tiny sample size. So while population can explain some of the variation among the eight groups, it leaves much of the variation unexplained.
Unsurprisingly, all four female groups are below the line, confirming that they’re fatally shot less often than you’d expect based on their numbers in the population. Asian females are particularly far below the line.
By contrast, black males are particularly far above the line, indicating that they’re fatally shot by police much more often than you’d expect based on their numbers in the population.
(Excerpt) Read more at noahcarl.substack.com ...
By contrast, black males are particularly far above the line, indicating that they’re fatally shot by police much more often than you’d expect based on their numbers in the population.
So, what are the other variables?
Well, if you are a violent black lawbreaking male (2-3% of the total population) and you are perpetrating 40% of all violent crime (Murder, rape, armed robbery, etc.) then is it any surprise you are shot by police at a higher rate than other demographics?
Statistics for idiots.
Yes. It is who is breaking the law violently at disproportionate rates and ending up at the wrong end of a gun.
We need to equalize these numbers. Any woman caught speeding should be shot.
Yes. And native American women should be shot on sight.
It’s worth the read. From the article:
“Could there be another explanation – one that explains all the data, not just some of it? Yes: differences in violent criminality.
The chart below plots fatal police shootings against murders for the eight demographic groups. Murders is the total number of murders committed by each group between 2015 and 2020. Which brings me to the reason Hispanics were not included: the FBI treats Hispanic ethnicity as a separate variable that may overlap with race.”
Scales seem to be linear; not logarithmic. What say you?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.