Counterpoint: Kersten herself is 'showing no interest in the facts'

In her commentary "By ignoring facts ... we make policing impossible" (Aug. 7), Katherine Kersten echoes Donald Trump with a fact-challenged, fearmongering attack on one of our country's ethnic communities.

Ironically, she accuses others in the debate over policing and race of showing "no interest in the facts," while she misrepresents facts throughout her commentary. I will focus only on a few central ones.

She claims that "[a]ctivists say the arrest rate of African-Americans — much higher than their share of the population — is conclusive proof of police bias."

No. The research on racial disparities in law enforcement is much more detailed and sophisticated than that. Scores of studies show differing treatment and outcomes for people of color as compared to whites suspected of or charged with exactly the same offenses, as well as different frequencies of traffic stops even when no violations have occurred. As a "senior policy fellow" at the Center of the American Experiment, Kersten certainly knows that. Why ignore these facts?

She also argues that the influence of Black Lives Matter has hamstrung police effectiveness, quoting Minneapolis police Sgt. Tim Hoeppner claiming that "if the guy appears to be pulling a weapon and the officer is forced to shoot, [the officer] could end up in prison."

But what is the actual likelihood of an officer ever going to prison for being "forced to shoot" when a suspect has pulled a gun on him?

Is there even one police officer today anywhere in this vast country of more than 320 million people who has been imprisoned for having been forced to shoot when a suspect has pulled a gun? Again, Kersten is ignoring central facts of life in order to spin her own narrative.

At a time of historically low crime rates (another fact Kersten ignores), she writes: "If we choose not to do these things [her recommendations for change] we can simply stand by and watch as more violent madness engulfs our cities."

With rhetorical sleight of hand, she links the Black Lives Matters movement to the idea that black men are dangerous, the idea that police no longer have public support and that they are hamstrung from doing their jobs, and the irrational illusion that violent madness is engulfing our cities.

We need to reject this sort of demagogic misdirection and cynical fearmongering, whether it is coming from one of our presidential candidates or from writers calling for us to face facts while ignoring the facts themselves.