The Department of Justice is blacklisting crime statistics for the FBI and other federal law enforcement to make sure that policing is equitable, according to a report by The Daily Caller. Documents of the updated anti-discrimination policy were reportedly provided to the outlet on the condition of anonymity. The policy will restrict agencies from using protected characteristics,” like race, ethnicity, and gender in any capacity as it relates to policing.
The new policy disallows using such characteristics even in situations where it would be necessary, helpful, or lawful. The justification of the update is that there may be racial discrimination, citing “high crime areas” that experience “aggressive policing.”
“As a general rule, officers and agents first should seek out and rely on information and factors that are not Protected Characteristics,” the document reads, adding that doing so is biased. There are exceptions, however. Three pieces of information must be true in order to use these protected characteristics. Firstly, they must be relevant to the case. Secondly, the information must be “trustworthy.” Thirdly, the information can only be used if the person who represents that characteristic is implicated in the crime.
Agencies and their officers are also directed not to use statistics in how they determine policing in certain areas, citing the “inherent bias” of crime statistics. The document provides an example of why using generalized stereotypes is wrong, including an incident where someone is expected to detonate a homemade bomb in a train station. The document says that officers should not expect the bomber to be of a certain faith.
But data from the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research shows that crime is concentrated in small parts of a city. An April report revealed that the majority of crimes are perpetrated by no more than 5 percent of the addresses.
