Item — HN Reader

De-escalation skills can be learned. First class psychological training and counselling could be the norm.

One gains a lot of respect by showing wisdom and courage.

Most scenarios are essentially communication problems to be solved. Not defaulting to the most violent means of "cooperation" is and should be an option for any police force in a 21st century democracy.

Look to the best in the past and in other countries.

Successful policing actually needs skin in the game.

1 comments

What's really sobering is that, in my personal experiences as a middle-class American white man in his 40s, police have always been really good at de-escalating things.

I haven't always agreed with them, but they have always cooled things down nicely without resorting to violence or even arrests.

Training varies widely by locale, but I believe de-escalation is indeed a nearly universal part of their training. It must also be noted that de-escalation certainly is much easier for the police officers themselves: less hassle, less danger, less paperwork, less repercussions. These people generally just want to get through their shift and get home.

They are certainly capable of de-escalation and, in most instances, are trained and motivated to de-escalate.

So, it's very telling when (nearly always white) officers leap to unnecessarily violent tactics on (nearly always Black) victims.

All of that is seen through the filter of the media. They have a story that they want to sell. They need to grab eyeballs. They are also political, and so they want to push what helps advance their own political goals, even if it tears the country apart.

Specifically, every one of these is subject to selection bias:

  "nearly always white"
  "unnecessarily violent tactics"
  "nearly always Black"

You won't see a news report when the tactics are peaceful, when a black cop is involved, or when the supposed victim is non-black. Nobody is going to riot over that, so why report it? It goes unseen by you, so you get the wrong impression about reality.

A different sort of bias comes into play with word choice, using "victims" to refer to people who typically are violent criminals being apprehended. The word ought to be "perpetrators", "suspects", or simply "criminals".

Of course "the media" focuses on incidents where cops abuse their power.

"The media" also exalts policemen and soldiers as heroes, with countless reminders to thank our "heroes" and millions of hours of Hollywood entertainment devoted to showcasing heroic soldiers and cops. Much of the media denounces the protests as well.

    A different sort of bias comes into play with 
    word choice, using "victims" to refer to people 
    who typically are violent criminals being 
    apprehended. The word ought to be "perpetrators",
    "suspects", or simply "criminals".

Surely you see the irony in using an equally loaded set of terms yourself?

In all of the incidents that sparked outcry, police were shown on video using vastly asymmetrical force against victims who were nonviolent or who had already been subdued. One, Breona Taylor, was in bed when police knocked down the wrong door when serving a no-knock warrant. Elijah, the teen injected with ketamine, was nonviolent and had no history of violence or crime.

There are a lot of incidents of police violence in which the suspect is behaving violently and, in these cases, I have not seen public outcry.

Do you think there are no black cops abusing their power, or that there are no white victims? It's hidden from you by the media because it doesn't fit the narrative of racist white cops abusing innocent black victims.

Statistics paint a different picture. Given that there is a police response to crime, a white criminal is more likely to be shot by the police.

I have seen plenty of public outcry over police violence when the suspect was behaving violently. The riots in Ferguson are the obvious example. Evidence of powder burns and of DNA in the car show that the BLM story was clearly false. The evidence is consistent with the story given by the cop. It's been like that for every case that I've researched, so at this point I'm done with research. It's always the same, more or less.

    Do you think there are no black cops abusing 
    their power, or that there are no white victims?

I do not think that. Additionally, literally nobody is claiming that. Anywhere.

Not exactly, but pretty close: "it's very telling when (nearly always white) officers leap to unnecessarily violent tactics on (nearly always Black) victims"

You got that distorted perspective from the media bias.

It's just not that way. Some statistics even point the other way.

    So, it's very telling when (nearly always white) 
    officers leap to unnecessarily violent tactics 
    on (nearly always Black) victims.

I could have been clearer about the context of my statement: I was referring to the police shootings that have made national headlines. My bad.

Nonetheless, while the overall reality of police killings in America is less dramatic than "nearly always", but it worrisomely lopsided. Black Americans are killed by police at a per-capita rate of roughly 2:1 compared to white Americans.

https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2020-06-03/data-show-de...

That is... not good. How do you explain that?