No, police racism isn't an epidemic

In response to the racial hysteria over Floyd’s death, the Democratic House and Republican Senate are hashing out a “policing reform” bill for the president to sign. This is being done out of political expediency, not necessity. There is no epidemic of black suspects dying in police custody, and a few viral videos don’t prove otherwise. Yes, cops sometimes abuse their authority, and firing bad ones can be much too difficult. But states and localities can address those issues more effectively than a one-size-fits-all fix from Washington. Moreover, Republicans should be wary of allowing liberal activists to speak for the public. We’ve known for years that groups like Black Lives Matter are out of step with most blacks, let alone most of the country.

In a 2015 Gallup poll taken after Michael Brown was killed in Ferguson, Mo., a majority of black respondents said police treat them fairly, and far more blacks (38%) than whites (18%) said they “want a greater police presence in their local communities.” Another Gallup survey, published last year, asked black and Hispanic residents of low-income neighborhoods about policing and found that these groups “aren’t averse to law enforcement—in fact, they are particularly concerned about crime in their neighborhoods.” Fifty-nine percent of both blacks and Hispanics said that “they would like the police to spend more time in their area than they currently do, making them more likely than white residents (50%) to respond this way.”