After the shooting in Ferguson and the death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore, there has been an understandable call for more police accountability. However, it is important to keep in mind that there is a dispute as to whether there is an “epidemic” of unjustified police shootings or just an increase in reporting. Rather than focusing solely on police shootings, we should recognize how many blacks and other minorities are victimized by crime and how many lives have been saved by effective law enforcement. Baltimore and New York are cases in point.
After Gray’s death, there were 43 murders in Baltimore in April. Thirty-nine of the victims were black, and none of the deaths was the result of police involvement. There were no national protests over these deaths. Where was the outrage over so many black people being murdered? That was the highest monthly total of homicides in Baltimore since August 1972.
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