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I am writing this as a concerned citizen who has been deeply disturbed by police brutality

displayed by some officers who have pledged to protect and serve our community.

There were only 27 days in 2019 in which the police did not kill someone. In New York state, the
percentage of African American population is ~15.86%, however, the percentage of police killing
victims who were African American was 46%. This is a 30% disparity, a huge concern. There is
a typical response that these figures make sense because black people commit more crimes (at
least per capita).

Nevertheless, there’s evidence that undermines the entire premise of cops are harder on black
people because black people commit more crimes. ​Study​ after​ ​study​ after​ ​study​ has found that
police are more likely to search black drivers after a traffic stop, even though those same
studies found that white drivers are far more likely to possess illicit drugs or weapons. There are
also some claims that cops are more aggressive with black people because black people are
more likely to resist, yet data from Chicago about police and the use of force shows otherwise.
Data journalist Rob Arthur reported what he found:

"A new cache of data released by the Chicago Police Department, however, shows that
the claim that black people are more likely to face police violence because of
noncompliance is itself a dreadful myth. According to the new numbers, Chicago police
officers used more force against black citizens, on average, than any other race—even
though black citizens tended to exercise less resistance than whites. Under the same
circumstances and faced with the same level of danger, cops tended to resolve the
situation without firing their weapons much more often for white citizens than black
citizens. This analysis was based on Chicago PD’s own descriptions of the incidents in
question... ​Using the data acquired by the Invisible Institute, I quantified the level of
resistance along a simple scale, ranging from passive resistance to attacking an officer
with a deadly weapon. I also measured level of force along a range from physical
restraint to shooting at the subject. I converted these levels to a simple scale...
Ultimately, comparing the two scales, officers tended to use more force against black
subjects even though they presented less resistance than white subjects... According to
the analysis of the police reports, black subjects were deemed to present a deadly threat
to police officers slightly more often than whites. But when faced with a white subject
deemed to present a deadly threat, officers used lethal force in just 28 percent of cases.
Meanwhile, officers fired upon black subjects in 43 percent of similar situations."

It's additionally been shown levels of violent crime in US cities do not determine rates of police
violence. In Buffalo, NY, the violent crime rate is 12 per 1000 people. Zero people were killed
by Buffalo police from 2013 to 2016. Though in Orlando, FL, the violent crime rate is 9 per 1000
people. Despite this, 13 people were killed by Orlando police from 2013 to 2016. If the myth that
crime rate dictates police violence is logical, these numbers would not make sense. Black
people are also 1.3x more likely to be unarmed while killed compared to white people.
One point that gets brought up often is that although black people make up 13% of the
population, they commit 50% of violent crime. This is extremely misleading, however. These
statistics are only relying on actual arrests of violent crime, and there is data suggesting that
arrests are also skewed against black people​. The point still stands, however, so I ask those
who use these statistics if they believe that the disproportionate level of violent crime within the
black community is due to genetics, as in something biologically about being black inherently
makes them more likely to commit some sort of crime, or if some environmental factor(s) are
causing the black community to commit some sort of crime. The vast majority of black violent
crime takes place in very poor, urban communities. It is environmental, but what one fails to
realize is that the factors which lead to disproportionate criminality amongst black Americans are
also in large part a product of racial bias. Such things such as underfunded public programs,
redlining, generational poverty, bad schooling, and so many other factors that influence black
criminality can be traced to racial bias.

I urge departments to introduce bills and resolutions to implement the following measures within
your policy, as they have been proven to reduce police brutality and killings. According to
research done following events in Ferguson, the addition of each use of force requirement could
be associated with a 15 percent reduction in killings — and adopting all eight could lead to a 72
percent reduction in killings.

• Require officers to de-escalate situations before resorting to force,


• Limit the kinds of force that can be used to respond to specific forms of resistance,
• Restrict chokeholds,
• Require officers to give a verbal warning before using force,
• Prohibit officers from shooting at moving vehicles,
• Require officers to exhaust all alternatives to deadly force,
• Require officers to stop colleagues from exercising excessive force,
• Require comprehensive reporting on the use of force

These measures do not involve any new equipment or technology but can help to keep our
citizens safe and provide an alternative to more violent forms of policing.

Thank you,

Rooke Wiser

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