How did it become normal for every police shooting to bring ruinous rioting?

A new study released on the Social Science Research network examined cities with Black Lives Matter protests from 2014 to 2019 and found that lethal use of force by cops declined enough to account for roughly 300 fewer deaths. On the other hand, the study found a 10 percent increase in homicides, resulting in 1,000 to 6,000 more deaths. If this is accurate, is there anyone who is comfortable with this blood-soaked trade, which reduces police killings at the cost of, at the very least, hundreds and perhaps thousands of additional murders of young African-American men? The study hasn’t yet been peer-reviewed, although its findings are broadly consistent with the experience of cities like Ferguson, Mo., and Baltimore. It doesn’t ­include last year’s nationwide unrest that coincided with an ­increase in murders nationally of 30 percent. There must be a better way. It would start by not smearing the police as such after every shooting. It would include the strongest possible condemnation of any violence in the streets, rather than the muddled, euphemistic practice of referring to protests that descend into riots and looting as “largely peaceful.” It would ­acknowledge the absolute necessity of robust policing to protect the most violence-plagued neighborhoods.
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