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500: Lick The Sugar

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Milestones -- they seem so important when they're far away and then you arrive at them and then it suddenly doesn't seem such a big deal. At the start of the year, we had some big plans to mark this achievement (if that's what you can call it), but then the lockdown happened, and well, the rest is...But, don't fear -- we actually put together a great show with a great guest: Roland Fryer, Professor of Economics at Harvard --making his Ricochet Podcast debut. His studies on changing the behavior of cops and racial differences in police use of deadly force are the gold standard and are used by police departments all over the world to write policies on training and engagement with civilians. It's a fascinating conversation. We also do some reminiscing, some teasing, and some looking ahead to the next 500 (!) shows. Thanks for listening, sticking with us, and for all the thousands of great comments. We'll do this again in 2030.

Music from this week's show: The Proclaimers - I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)

Hosts:
James LileksPeter RobinsonRob Long
Guest:
Roland Fryer

Discussion (90)

  • Henry Castaigne@HenryCastaigne
    Edited

    Keep in mind that the statistics presented by Roland Fryer are part of a bigger dynamic as Heather MacDonald has observed.

    The latest in a series of studies undercutting the claim of systemic police bias was published in August 2019 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The researchers found that the more frequently officers encounter violent suspects from any given racial group, the greater the chance that a member of that group will be fatally shot by a police officer. There is “no significant evidence of antiblack disparity in the likelihood of being fatally shot by police,” they concluded.

    A 2015 Justice Department analysis of the Philadelphia Police Department found that white police officers were less likely than black or Hispanic officers to shoot unarmed black suspects. Research by Harvard economist Roland G. Fryer Jr. also found no evidence of racial discrimination in shootings. Any evidence to the contrary fails to take into account crime rates and civilian behavior before and during interactions with police.

    Quite possibly, African-Americans are too likely to get roughed up by police officers as Mr. Fryer claims. I would love to have discussion about that particular issue. However the biggest deal seems to be higher rates of crime in the black-American community.

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