Police officers treat Black and white men differently. You can hear it in their tone of voice

[Demovictory9]

https://www.latimes.com/science/story/2021-07-16/cops-treat-black-and-white-men-differently-you-can-hear-it-in-their-tone-of-voice

Scientists who analyzed the body camera footage from more than 100 police officers have found a subtle but clear pattern: During traffic stops, officers spoke to Black men in a less respectful and less friendly tone than they did to white men.

This disparity in treatment is not only real, but may help to fuel a cycle of mistrust between police and the Black community, the researchers reported this week in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.


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Compared with white residents, Black community members were 57% less likely to hear the officer use words such as “sir,” “ma’am” and “thank you” and 61% more likely to hear words such as “dude” and “bro” and commands such as “hands on the wheel.”

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For the new paper, Camp and his colleagues focused not on what officers said, but how they said it.


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The researchers then asked more than 400 people — a diverse group of white, Latino, Asian and Black volunteers — to listen to the clips and rate the officers’ tone of voice.

Across the board, clips of officers speaking to Black men got lower marks for friendliness, respectfulness and ease than those of officers speaking to white men — even though the listeners were not aware of the drivers’ race.

[Nevilledog]

1. K & R

[Nevilledog]

2. Here's the study

Link to tweet

Tweet text:
Don Moynihan
@donmoyn
Fascinating pair of studies relevant to psychological costs in citizen-state encounters: recordings of interactions of motorists show police are judged to use less respectful language and less friendly tone with Blacks. https://pnas.org/content/114/25/6521… https://apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/psp-pspa0000270.pdf…

Language from police body camera footage shows racial disparities in officer respect
Police officers speak significantly less respectfully to black than to white community members in everyday traffic stops, even after controlling for officer race, infraction severity, stop location,...
pnas.org
8:24 AM · Jul 16, 2021

https://www.pnas.org/content/114/25/6521

[Johnny2X2X]

3. Very good research

I wish more people knew this type of information, because most white people in my experience are completely unaware of things like this, just as they're completely unaware that there is a huge discrepancy in frequency of getting pulled over at all between the races.

The average person also has no idea that white and black people use and sell drugs at roughly the same rates, in fact most studies show whites at slightly higher rates of use and selling. Yet the jails are disproportionately filled with minority drug offenders.

You almost have to have interacted with the police with your black friends to see the subject of this study first hand. Been pulled over as a passenger with black friends and asked, "What are you doing here? Why are you with these guys?"

What I have more than a couple stories of as a white person though, is that interactions with police often ended with the police giving me a break. Had weed a friend was carrying thrown out rather than been arrested more than once. Been pulled over several times and not gotten a ticket. Being aware of this privilege is the first step towards justice.

[Dustlawyer]

5. I have seen this personally, real eye opener!

Me and my black brother-in-law went fishing in my little Jon boat on a river in town. Our route took us past the port where there were several different law enforcement agencies guarding the entrance to the port. We were on the other side of the wide river from the port entrance going past the port. My brother-in-law had a large Afro which they could see, especially with their binoculars they were using.

The first one to stop us was the game warden. No problem, they check almost everyone they see. The other agencies watched our stop from their boats. The game warden cleared us and as soon as I started going the next, Homeland Security stoped us 50 yards later. The guy on the 50 caliber had it pointed at us during the whole stop. I complained about him pointing his weapon at us to no avail. After they were done and started backing away the Texas DPS boat came up and did the same thing. I told them they had all watched us stopped twice, why are you doing it again? They did not answer. We had to give each one our ID, prove life jackets, floatation device, fire extinguisher…. I was pissed! Finally, the DEA boat comes up as the DPS troopers were backing off. They too pointed a 50 cal at us and went through the routine. All told we spent over 40 minutes being harassed by 4 government agencies that were hanging out together at the port entrance. They all had radio and knew we were just a couple of guys going fishing in a 14 foot aluminum boat with only a 25 horse motor. We could go no where fast and they could see everything in my boat.

We went fishing and I went the long way through the swap to return to avoid a repeat performance I was sure was coming. Since that time I have passed them on the river without my brother-in-law and have not been stopped once!

[oasis]

9. "Don't come back" was the message. It's sickening and sad. nt

[Apollo Zeus]

11. One of my white relatives started dating a black man 2 years ago

She told me "I never knew what black drivers go through."

I didn't know what to say to that. My thought was 'how could you not know??' It is no secret. Maybe what she meant was that she just didn't believe it until it happened to her.

Also: I don't think calling rights "privileges" is a good strategy. It makes it sound like the goal is equal oppression for all.

[Caliman73]

14. The privilege is not the right.

The privilege is the respect that is given. The "benefit of the doubt". Black and Brown people have the exact same legal rights that White people have. White people have the "privilege" of not having their rights questioned in most cases.

A group of White teenagers can gather in a park and police will roll right on by. A group of Black or Latino teenagers, is a gang, and they need to be checked. They all have the right to congregate in a public park. The White kids have the PRIVILEGE of not being harassed just for existing.

No one wants White people to lose rights or suffer oppression. We just want to go through life getting that same benefit of the doubt and not being bothered when we are out in public doing the same exact thing White people get to do freely.

Understand the distinction?

[Apollo Zeus]

16. Framing.

You are framing the problem as "privilege" and yet eliminating that "privilege" would not improve anyone's rights.

I get the part about making people aware that they are treated differently but the problem is the denial of rights, such as the right to peaceable assembly and 4th Amendment protections.

[Enoki33]

4. Something POC have always known.

[Solly Mack]

6. Black people have been saying this for decades upon decades.

[uponit7771]

8. yep

[WhiskeyGrinder]

12. THIS.

[ck4829]

7. K&R

[BumRushDaShow]

10. People have been "researching" and "analyzing" this stuff for decades

When will we get to a point of "zero tolerance"?

I think people might remember just over a decade ago, a special on ABC -

ETA - https://abcnews.go.com/WhatWouldYouDo/bike-theft/story?id=10556016

[malaise]

13. I remember one where the white guy and the black guy were just running

then they asked folks what they saw - the black guy wasa thief running away - the white guy was exercising. They were dressed in identical clothes

[BumRushDaShow]

15. Exactly.

It is hard-coded in the brain through generations of indoctrination.

[moonscape]

17. I was always aware I had privilege

being an attractive white female. Now that I’m a Senior and my looks are in the rear view mirror, I’m invisible but still white, so remain privileged albeit at a different level.

Many decades ago, I was near the Austria/Hungary border and wanted to fill up with cheaper gas on the Hungarian side. Had waited to do that at the last station but alas they had just closed. Two guys were preparing to leave the locked-down place but after a bit of flirting ended up opening the place back up just so I could fill the tank.

Afterwards I recall asking the friend I was traveling with as we drove away: “What are we going to do when we get old and nobody opens up gas stations for us anymore?” We were in our mid to late 20’s.

Thanks for posting that. It’s definitely what I experienced throughout my life, though I never realized how easy it would have been to turn passers-by into accomplices to commit crimes in public! That’s remarkable.