The Review-Journal’s recent article, “CCSD police use of force report shows racial disparity.” strongly implies, without evidence, that Clark County School District police are racist.
If one assumes that racial disparities in police use-of-force statistics are meaningful, they must also assume that statistics showing Black people commit violent crimes disproportionately are also meaningful. Then the relevant question becomes: Why do those disparities exist?
A disparity tells us that two groups have different outcomes. It does not, by itself, tell us what caused the differences. Before suggesting that racism is responsible for the greater number of force incidents involving Black students, the circumstances surrounding those incidents need to be considered. If one group is disproportionately involved in violent confrontations, then that group will have more interactions with police involving force. That is not evidence police are treating members of that group differently because of race.
This is particularly important when discussing violent crime. Black Americans, and especially Black males, are disproportionately represented among violent offenders relative to their share of the population. The same principle applies inside a school. If students from one demographic group are disproportionately involved in fights, assaults, threats or other serious confrontations, it would hardly be surprising if police use force more often when dealing with students from that group.
The question is not what percentage of students subjected to force were Black. The question is what percentage of the underlying violent incidents involved Black students. Without knowing that, there is no way to know if police behavior was discriminatory.
There are certainly legitimate questions that can be asked about police use of force. Were officers following policy? Was the amount of force reasonable under the circumstances? How often did students resist or assault officers? What circumstances led to the use of force? Were comparable incidents involving students of different races handled differently? The answers to those questions could tell us whether there is evidence of discriminatory policing.
A disparity is a reason to investigate. It is not proof of racism. The Review-Journal should help readers understand that distinction rather than encouraging them to assume, without evidence, that school police are racist, as the article implies.
