A recent study reveals that more than 99 percent of arrests by police are made without the use of physical force.
Despite the slim chances of being subjected to police violence, many Americans continue to harbor fear of the police, substantially attributable to near-constant coverage of isolated incidents.
Two weeks ago, the New York Times ran a story by the Associated Press that exemplified slanted media reporting on police use of force.
It's certainly true that police, who can and do exercise significant power over civilians, should be held accountable when they unlawfully use force, but the media play an important role in that process.
Instances of police violence are too often reported with an assumption that the violence was unmeasured, avoidable, and often racist; such reporting rarely, if ever, identifies such incidents as statistical outliers unrepresentative of typical police encounters with the public-including those members of the public whom the police are trying to arrest.
Sober analyses of police uses of force deserve more media attention.
These empirically grounded reports can help restore some of the public trust that has been lost to distorted claims of police brutality.
https://www.city-journal.org/html/keeping-peace-15913.html
Despite the slim chances of being subjected to police violence, many Americans continue to harbor fear of the police, substantially attributable to near-constant coverage of isolated incidents.
Two weeks ago, the New York Times ran a story by the Associated Press that exemplified slanted media reporting on police use of force.
It's certainly true that police, who can and do exercise significant power over civilians, should be held accountable when they unlawfully use force, but the media play an important role in that process.
Instances of police violence are too often reported with an assumption that the violence was unmeasured, avoidable, and often racist; such reporting rarely, if ever, identifies such incidents as statistical outliers unrepresentative of typical police encounters with the public-including those members of the public whom the police are trying to arrest.
Sober analyses of police uses of force deserve more media attention.
These empirically grounded reports can help restore some of the public trust that has been lost to distorted claims of police brutality.
https://www.city-journal.org/html/keeping-peace-15913.html
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