Are Cops Racist?

Heather does a great job of sifting through the media drama and finding out what the real issues are. I have a completely different view of this issue after reading this book.

We all decry racial-profiling, right? Only one problem: racial profiling does not exist. The author documents how this myth began with black "leaders" complaining that too many blacks were being stopped for traffic violations. Liberal politicians quickly jumped on the bandwagon and demanded a study. With hysteria in full bloom, a federal study was produced showing that blacks were, indeed, stopped at a disproportionate rate for traffic violations along the New Jersey Turnpike. With the New Jersey Turnpike study in hand, President Clinton, then candidate G.W. Bush, and numerous governors were all out denouncing racial profiling and demanding reform. The hysteria then moved to the courts were numerous arrests were thrown out due to the claim that they were stopped because of their race.Nobody ever asked the question: Are blacks being stopped at a disproportionate rate because they are committing traffic violations at a disproportionate rate. Even asking such a question usually resulted in charges of racism. To answer this question, however, the New Jersey Attorney General commissioned a study that employed radar to trigger a camera which snapped a picture of the driver whenever said driver exceeded the speed limit along points throughout New Jersey Turnpike. The report showed that blacks did, indeed, speed at a disproportionate rate, double that of whites. Needless to say, the politicians were shocked at the results. The DOJ continued to sidestep the study. The study was performed by the Public Service Institute for Safety in Maryland. The researchers even offered to submit the tests and methodologies to the National Academy of Sciences for peer review. In the end the media and politicians didn't contest the results, they instead chose to just ignore the study. Nobody wanted to tell black folks that they speed at twice the rate of whites and, hence, were ticketed at twice the rate of whites, especially after all the hoopla. The results were not politically acceptable.The book debunks many other charges of racism such as that during the Cincinnati riots. We all heard about the white racist cops that were out of control and shooting innocent black folks in Cincinnati. Cincinnati suffered greatly during the riots with black "leaders" out front demanding reform to stop the racist cops and demanding more government social programs to appease the agry rioters. The facts, however, showed that of the 15 black offenders that were shot to death, four were shot by black officers. One of the offenders was shot after he hacked to death his girlfriend and was waving the axe at the cops. Another was shot after he dragged a black police officer to his death. In short, when the facts were examined, there was no evidence that the cops were racist and out of control.After reading this book and books like "Coloring the News" one has to ask why is there so much manipulation out there designed to inflame black resentment against cops, against the

I just finished reading "Are Cops Racist" by Heather MacDonald. As an African-American and newly minted "Black Neo-conservative," I commend the author for not only showing, though painstaking reseach, interviews and thoughtful analysis, the fictitious and politcally motivated accusations against cops of racial profiling, but also stressing how such nonsense (further propogated by a left-leaning media) will do more harm than good to law-abiding citizens - particularly African-Americans. As the old saying goes, "the truth hurts." This book should leave cop-bashers nationwide with a serious hangover for a long time.

I've followed Heather Macdonalds wonderful writing in the city journal. This book is thorough researched and well argued and quite relevant to questions of ethnic profiling (what it is, what are the limits?) that will affect us all in the future.

Heather MacDonald's Are Cops Racist? maintains that opposition to racial profiling threatens to erode crime-fighting gains of the last decade. Chapters show how this profiling has led to increased insights on the demographics of crime and criminals - and chapters consider how anti-profiling lobbying produces harmful results for blacks and all peoples. An intriguing discussion.