Texas cop unions have put out a website to oppose police reform called Texas Police Facts. But the "facts" presented are mostly either anodyne distractions or pretty brazenly misrepresented. texaspolicefacts.com
Citing a DOJ-BJS study, they say "claims that minorities are substantially more likely to be contacted by the police are inaccurate." bjs.gov/content/pub/pd… Check out Tbls 3 and 4. Black folks are overrepresented in POLICE-initiated contacts; whites in crime reporting.
That same DOJ-BJS analysis concluded that "Blacks were more likely to be pulled over in traffic stops than whites and Hispanics." So the linked source directly contradicts their claim.
They declare "FACT: In Texas, law enforcement officers proven to be unfit for the job cannot jump from agency to agency," claiming TCOLE's F-5 report ensures agencies are "aware of previous misconduct."
In reality, according to the TX Sunset Commission, "In practice, the F-5 process has only resulted in nine license revocations in the last five fiscal years, despite TCOLE receiving notice of over 2,800 dishonorable discharges during the same time." sunset.texas.gov/public/uploads…
Another one: "FACT: In Texas, law enforcement agencies CAN get rid of bad cops." Somebody tell that to @SATXPolice, where 70% of cops fired get reinstated through arbitration, including a guy who fed a sandwich made of feces to a homeless man as a "joke." sanantonioreport.org/in-san-antonio…
Another "FACT" presented was that "Police use force or threat of force in less than 2% of all interactions with civilians." But given that police have MILLIONS of interactions with the public per year, that's a lot of force being used!
On their "Resources" page, they point to a study claiming police exhibit no bias in shootings which was later retracted for inadequate methodology and overstated conclusions. texaspolicefacts.com/officer-charac…
They include links to several data sources and cherrypick information from them, including the @JusticeTexas data on deaths in custody and the @TCOLE racial profiling data.
In particular, in the case of the racial profiling reports, even a cursory analysis supports claims by union critics and argues strongly for restricting police arrest powers. gritsforbreakfast.blogspot.com/2020/12/keller…
Indeed, according to said racial profiling data, @houstonpolice use force at traffic stops far more than other, comparable agencies - e.g., 18x more than their counterparts at @SATXPolice. gritsforbreakfast.blogspot.com/2020/11/housto…
This website and the police unions who sponsored it are using cherry-picked evidence as drunks use lamp posts ... for support rather than illumination. I hope our friends at the #txlege see through it.
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