Police Beat appears to be biased

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To the editor:

I have noticed a distressing tendency, in The Riverdale Press, to identify the race of perpetrators of violence, robberies and other attacks only when the attackers, or aggressors, are from a minority group. An example of this occurred in the August 6 Police Beat. 

Of the four incidents listed (the fifth, a car theft, apparently had no witnesses to identify anyone), two are mentioned as black: “The suspect, described as a 5-foot-4 black male…”  “The three robbers, black males …”  The other two incidents mention a “roughly 27-year old suspect” (no race mentioned) and “five male teenagers…” (again, no race).

I assume you can’t really identify the others because they’re, well, just plain old white. But we’re to know that the “others,” (blacks, in this case) are committing these crimes. Is this what you’re trying to communicate?  

Reporting like this had, I thought, long since disappeared, since it contributes to unfortunate and hurtful racial stereotypes. Either identify each incident with a description of the aggressor, including size, age and race, or leave out the race altogether. I doubt this is the kind of journalism that won The Riverdale Press the Pulitzer Prize.  

Carola Chase

Editor’s reply: The assumption is incorrect. When police officers file reports, they choose from eight race categories, including white, to describe suspects. If the suspect does not fall within those categories, the officer may indicate a different description in the text of the report. The Press does not omit mention of a suspect’s race if he or she is white, or from any other group. Police Beat utilizes whatever material is available to us from the police reports.

Police Beat, The Riverdale Press, Carola Chase

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