(Anecdotal, rather than based on peer-reviewed research, but I claim a right to comment since I've "been there, done that." I'm sure research exists, probably someplace on the DoJ website)
It's a combination of both. I spent 14 years as a cop, and worked with a number of officers who came on the job for the wrong reasons: to exert authority over others, to "repay" society for slights they (the officers) had suffered (at least in their own minds), and for the power and prestige (and for the legal authority to carry a gun and kill people). But there were many more -- and I caught myself falling into this trap, which is why I got out -- who deal with the dregs of society (regardless of race, creed, color, national origin, orientation, etc) and eventually find themselves believing that all members of the chosen demographic -- blacks, teens, Hispanics, women, druggies, what have you -- are ALL dirtbags. I was in an urban area, so most of the violators I dealt with were POC (which wasn't surprising; in that area, they started with nothing, had no chance to advance beyond that point, so naturally started taking by force what society wouldn't allow them to achieve honestly), and I began to believe that all POC, with the exception of my partner, were criminals. FWIW, even my partner began harboring suspicions about his community; he got out the same time I did.
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Re: Selection Bias
(Anecdotal, rather than based on peer-reviewed research, but I claim a right to comment since I've "been there, done that." I'm sure research exists, probably someplace on the DoJ website)
It's a combination of both. I spent 14 years as a cop, and worked with a number of officers who came on the job for the wrong reasons: to exert authority over others, to "repay" society for slights they (the officers) had suffered (at least in their own minds), and for the power and prestige (and for the legal authority to carry a gun and kill people). But there were many more -- and I caught myself falling into this trap, which is why I got out -- who deal with the dregs of society (regardless of race, creed, color, national origin, orientation, etc) and eventually find themselves believing that all members of the chosen demographic -- blacks, teens, Hispanics, women, druggies, what have you -- are ALL dirtbags. I was in an urban area, so most of the violators I dealt with were POC (which wasn't surprising; in that area, they started with nothing, had no chance to advance beyond that point, so naturally started taking by force what society wouldn't allow them to achieve honestly), and I began to believe that all POC, with the exception of my partner, were criminals. FWIW, even my partner began harboring suspicions about his community; he got out the same time I did.
Techdirt has not posted any stories submitted by andrew618.
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