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Commit, yes. For serious crimes like murder and A & B there's a victim. The causes are irrelevant from the standpoint of police officers. Cops have to deal w

Commit, yes. For serious crimes like murder and A & B there's a victim. The causes are irrelevant from the standpoint of police officers. Cops have to deal with the situation in which they find themselves.

extra88 9y ago
That's assuming there's an officer involved at all. I also didn't have a specific definition of "serious crimes" in mind, whether it would only include violent crimes or also non-violent ones like burglary or fraud (of significant value).
- gozur88 9y ago
  By "serious" I meant violent. The statistics line up for non-violent crimes, too, but cops don't get amped up when they arrest shoplifters, and I thought I would preempt the whole "but cops don't arrest white people for drugs" line of argument.
  - extra88 9y ago
    Okay. I return to my earlier point, "black people commit more serious crimes" suggests there's a genetic or cultural explanation while economic status is likely more relevant; i.e. poor people commit more serious crimes.
    - gozur88 9y ago
      >I return to my earlier point, "black people commit more serious crimes" suggests there's a genetic or cultural explanation... Does it? Not that I can see, particularly in response to the assertion black people are shot disproportionately by police.
    - weberc2 9y ago
      I don't understand the relationships between SES, culture, and crime, but I'm baffled that we pretend that veneration of gang life in inner city communities can't possibly factor into the equation even in a small way. To head off the stupid "white people listen to rap too!" false equivalence, crime worship can't be reduced to music selection, it's (by definition of "worship") a way of life. I guess I don't think we should rule out a cultural cause; it's not like we need to say "every black person worships criminals" or "no white people worship criminals"--if culture plays a role, I hope we can be mature enough to recognize that it's not a binary proposition, and can engage it earnestly and compassionately.

extra88 9y ago

That's assuming there's an officer involved at all. I also didn't have a specific definition of "serious crimes" in mind, whether it would only include violent crimes or also non-violent ones like burglary or fraud (of significant value).

gozur88 9y ago
By "serious" I meant violent. The statistics line up for non-violent crimes, too, but cops don't get amped up when they arrest shoplifters, and I thought I would preempt the whole "but cops don't arrest white people for drugs" line of argument.
- extra88 9y ago
  Okay. I return to my earlier point, "black people commit more serious crimes" suggests there's a genetic or cultural explanation while economic status is likely more relevant; i.e. poor people commit more serious crimes.
  - gozur88 9y ago
    >I return to my earlier point, "black people commit more serious crimes" suggests there's a genetic or cultural explanation... Does it? Not that I can see, particularly in response to the assertion black people are shot disproportionately by police.
  - weberc2 9y ago
    I don't understand the relationships between SES, culture, and crime, but I'm baffled that we pretend that veneration of gang life in inner city communities can't possibly factor into the equation even in a small way. To head off the stupid "white people listen to rap too!" false equivalence, crime worship can't be reduced to music selection, it's (by definition of "worship") a way of life. I guess I don't think we should rule out a cultural cause; it's not like we need to say "every black person worships criminals" or "no white people worship criminals"--if culture plays a role, I hope we can be mature enough to recognize that it's not a binary proposition, and can engage it earnestly and compassionately.