Injustice
The director of the F.B.I. once again referenced the controversial
“Ferguson Effect” Wednesday, saying that he believed “less aggressive
policing was driving an alarming spike in murders in many cities.”
This claim, which first appeared as a concept under its official moniker last August in response to rising murder rates that started happening well before Darren Wilson shot unarmed Michael Brown,
involves the unfounded belief that the usage of viral videos and
monitoring the police as a tactic of reducing misconduct and brutality
is somehow “spoofing” police into being less competent in their daily
tasks of preventing crime.
James Comey, the F.B.I. director since 2013, has repeatedly brought
this claim up throughout the past 18 months as viral videos continue to
serve as a window into the inherent biases that would seem to run
systemically throughout law enforcement, acting in turn as a catalyst
for a nationwide discussion on police reform, institutional racism, and
the unequal enforcement of criminal law.
Mr. Comey said that while he could “offer no
statistical proof,” he believed after speaking with a number of police
officials that a “viral video effect” – the concept of officers wary of
confronting suspects for fear of ending up on a video highlighting
misconduct – “could well be at the heart” of a spike in violent crime in
certain cities.
1 comment:
Perhaps we should be asking what is the effect of sending police officers to Israel for special training in law enforcement methods. Apparently, thousands of American police officers go to Israel annually for training, where they learn what? How to beat up on minorities, like the Israeli cops and the military do to Palestinians???
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