Facts Are Stubborn Things - II

For some years, the New York Police Department has used a computer system called CompStat to record and analyze violent crimes so as to determine where in the City crime is increasing. Resources are then focused in those areas to prevent more crimes from happening. Seems like a good idea; few have alleged it to be ineffective.

Among the results of CompStat's use is an array of stats that are inarguable: they are historical records of what happened in NYC for whatever period is being reported. Here are some reported facts for 2009:

1. Blacks committed 66% of all violent crimes reported; non-Hispanic whites committed less than 5% of all the reported violent crimes;

2. Blacks committed 80% of all reported shootings; non-
Hispanic whites committed 1.4% of all shootings;

3. Blacks committed 71% of all reported robberies; non-
Hispanic whites committed less than 5% of all reported
robberies;

4. Blacks and Hispanics combined committed 98% of all
reported assaults involving guns;

5. The vast majority of victims were racial minorities.

There are groups in New York which have filed suit against the NYPD for racial discrimination alleging the above facts demonstrate discrimination as they are unrepresentative of the statistical description of the City which is 23% black and 35% white.

It is at best difficult to take such groups and their members seriously. It is even more difficult to understand why minorities, the bulk of these crime's victims, are equally supportive of notions of discrimination based on these facts. But they do to the detriment of all.