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Newark cops, with reform, didn't fire a single shot in 2020

nj.com

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Re: Newark cops, with reform, didn't fire a single shot in 2020

#21

Post by js2 »

elil17 wrote: post #13

I think this only addresses half of what's wrong with Newark PD. Newark still spends about a third of it's city budget on police, at the expense of essential services like infrastructure and education. Newark PD still arrests Black people at a much much higher rate than white people. The disparity of arrest rates is even greater when it comes to drug possession.

I was surprised to learn that overall, the U.S. spends about 0.8% of GDP on policing, which places it in about the middle of OECD countries.

https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/how-police-compare-differen...

Budget seems like the least of our problems in fixing U.S. policing, though I recognize in some cities it may be more of a problem than others. The biggest problem seems to be the huge amount of resistance from police to any change at all.

I'm watching this closely:

https://cornellsun.com/2021/04/02/mayor-svante-myricks-09-po...

Re: Newark cops, with reform, didn't fire a single shot in 2020

#22

Post by bananabiscuit »

param wrote: post #18
elil17 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Arresting at a hire rate means in comparison to the demographics of the city. In 2020, 50% of Newark residents were Black but 80% of arrests were of Black people. 80% of victims of police use of force were Black. A third of the city is white but only 4% of police use of force victims are white. [1] [1]: https://www.nj.com/opinion/2020/07/newark-must-do-more-to-st...

And do we know why this disparity exists?

I’d assume it’s some combination of the cops being racist, or actual differences in crime rates among demographics. I see no reason to conclude it has to be one or the other, not sure if there’s any actual way to determine how much each cause contributes though.

Re: Newark cops, with reform, didn't fire a single shot in 2020

#23

Post by gadrev »

throwaway1090 wrote: post #5
tyingq wrote: post #2

Some time ago, I watched Frontline's "Policing the Police" episode that featured Newark and Baraka's efforts. The episode was fairly early in their process (2016), and does a nice job of framing up both the problem, and how they intended to solve it. Jelani Cobb hosts it. He does a ride-along, and somewhat incredibly, sees the problems first hand...despite the cops he's riding with knowing full well he's filming ever…

It's on youtube [1]. They released another documentary with the same name and the same Newark subject with 2020 updates [2]. They both have the same duration but are different. [1] Policing the Police (2016) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_8vTl6D940 [2] Policing the Police (2020) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taNwWilMVLg Both come with optional English subtitles.

I guess it's US only? Can't access from EU.

Re: Newark cops, with reform, didn't fire a single shot in 2020

#24

Post by lostlogin »

The story describes positive change and this is good. However the detail is rather dark.

“On Jan. 1, a Newark officer fatally shot Carl Dorsey III, of South Orange, during a confrontation in the South Ward, a case that’s being investigated by Attorney General”

The link there says that officers arrived on Jan 1 2021 at 12:03am.

So 3 minutes after 2020 they shot someone dead.

https://www.nj.com/essex/2021/01/nj-protesters-rally-demand-...

Re: Newark cops, with reform, didn't fire a single shot in 2020

#25

Post by School-Cotton »

tootie wrote: post #15
atonse wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably but for an extreme example, look at what’s happened in Portland.

Probably not causation. Crime rates are up nationwide. NYC is seeing a spike too and we've got the most expensive police force in the world. More likely the pandemic is to blame.

> More likely the pandemic is to blame.

You mean the response to the pandemic, not the pandemic itself.

Re: Newark cops, with reform, didn't fire a single shot in 2020

#26

Post by helloworld11 »

elil17 wrote: post #13

I think this only addresses half of what's wrong with Newark PD. Newark still spends about a third of it's city budget on police, at the expense of essential services like infrastructure and education. Newark PD still arrests Black people at a much much higher rate than white people. The disparity of arrest rates is even greater when it comes to drug possession.

>Newark PD still arrests Black people at a much much higher rate than white people.

And if it's the case that people in the city's black community are committing arrestable offenses (however stupid some definitions of what is an offense for which you can be arrested and charged with for are), then what should the department do? Not arrest people for doing things it's been ordered to arrest people for doing just because it's bad PR?

It's apparently not popular to mention and undoubtedly there are many social victimization factors at work contributing to it, but young men in the black community really do commit more violent crime and crime of many other types than do many young men in a number of other ethnic communities.

Re: Newark cops, with reform, didn't fire a single shot in 2020

#27

Post by FeepingCreature »

tootie wrote: post #15
atonse wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably but for an extreme example, look at what’s happened in Portland.

Probably not causation. Crime rates are up nationwide. NYC is seeing a spike too and we've got the most expensive police force in the world. More likely the pandemic is to blame.

Not happening in other countries though?

Re: Newark cops, with reform, didn't fire a single shot in 2020

#28

Post by erikerikson »

bananabiscuit wrote: post #22
param wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And do we know why this disparity exists?

I’d assume it’s some combination of the cops being racist, or actual differences in crime rates among demographics. I see no reason to conclude it has to be one or the other, not sure if there’s any actual way to determine how much each cause contributes though.

One might add inherited circumstances that are predictive of outcomes.

Re: Newark cops, with reform, didn't fire a single shot in 2020

#29

Post by JamisonM »

School-Cotton wrote: post #25
tootie wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably not causation. Crime rates are up nationwide. NYC is seeing a spike too and we've got the most expensive police force in the world. More likely the pandemic is to blame.

> More likely the pandemic is to blame. You mean the response to the pandemic, not the pandemic itself.

I don't know what the OP meant but I certainly would mean specifically "the pandemic is to blame".

If there were no discernable response to the pandemic from any organized institution in society there is a pretty good chance the pandemic itself could be blamed for a /lot/ of terrible things.

Re: Newark cops, with reform, didn't fire a single shot in 2020

#30

Post by jessaustin »

bananabiscuit wrote: post #22
param wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And do we know why this disparity exists?

I’d assume it’s some combination of the cops being racist, or actual differences in crime rates among demographics. I see no reason to conclude it has to be one or the other, not sure if there’s any actual way to determine how much each cause contributes though.

...cops being racist...

This is vague and leads to confusion. We shouldn't imagine we can learn anything simply by judging the characters of individual officers. If our laws and police practices are racist, the beliefs and actions of the officers themselves won't matter. Of course, there are racist officers, just as there are racist judges, legislators, grocers, veterinarians, etc. I doubt that Newark has a high concentration of racist police officers relative to the rest of the nation, however.

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