Another thing worth noting, as the news is bitching about it...
Black Cops.
The news made a squawk about how there are not enough black cops in Fergy land. Back in school we covered this general problem ad nauseam as there has been lots of research in the last 30 years on it.
A. It's hard to find qualified canadits. To be a police officer you have to graduate high school, have a clean police record, never have done drugs (been caught), be at least 20-21 and many areas now require some form of a post high school degree.
1 in 15 Black men is in jail and 1 in 3 is likely to be arrested at some point in his life. Those individuals that do qualify - having remained out of trouble, gone to school entered college - typically want NOTHING TO DO WITH Law Enforcement. They see better opportunities else where.
B. It doesn't do shit. Black offers actually play right into the stereo type of "cops go easy on whites and hard on colors". This is two fold -
First it's the "your making us look back" mentality. A black cop worked hard together and likely has an axel to grind with all the gang-bangers and trouble makers from his home town. He's not about to cut some punk slack just because they share skin-tone. Many interviewed officers say they are just tired of these kids and trouble makers making the community look bad. Additionally, black officers don't want to make trouble, so they often go easier on white suspects because last thing they want to deal with is a "omfg mean black cop yelled at my blonde daughter" non-sense.
Second - Brotherhood. For any cop, fellow cops become family. For black officers, blue becomes the new skin tone. Their fellow cops, whether white or brown or black mean more then whatever racial community they come from and they act accordingly.
C. Uncle Tom - believe it or not, while the communities often cry how unfair it is and how they want more representation from their own racial group - those cops from the area that are that same genetic background then get treated like crap. Many of these communities hate the police and to see a "black man" acting like a "white cop" just enrages them as a "kid from the suburbs coming into the hood" does. These black officers get treated especially harshly and in turn grow bitter to their own community which goes back to Reason A and B
D. Fuck this shit : Politicians often want cops to be from where they police. Thats cool in a nice upscale community* but as a cop, the last thing you wan to be is living next to the meth house or gang-club that you just raided. Worse yet, you know what a shit hole areas are so you don't want your family anywhere near it. It's a safety issue. So even if you higher local black officers, they quickly get the hell out of dodge.
Basically 30 years of research shows that the issue is not one of race. People assume a black-cop will get along with an understand a black community better. The problem isn't skin color but culture and context. A black cop is still a cop and sees the world as a cop. The community, regardless of race, still sees the world the way they do - so gang bangers are still bangers, hipster and tree huggers are still pussies and meth heads are still tweakers. So no mater what, that divide still exists.
* it's also hard to "community police" upscale areas as cops can't afford to live in those areas - but then we don't hear people crying about needing more cops to live in those communities...
