Who's to Blame?

        In an article from the opinion pages in The New York Times, Matthew Desmond discusses what a community looks like after an incident of police violence. He mentions that "[o]ne well known contribution to this debate has been Heather Mac Donald's notion of the 'Ferguson Effect,' the idea that after an episode of police violence, crime spikes in cities because ensuing protests cause the police to stop proactive tactics, emboldening the bad guys". Essentially the debate is proactive policing's role crime spikes. Desmond disagrees with the Ferguson Effect. He believes that from a study they conducted that once an area experienced police violence the citizens no longer trust the police, resulting in the spike of crime in that area. It has less to do with the proactive policing but more with the lack of 911 calls. He argues, "It is one thing to disparage law enforcement in your thoughts and speech after an instance of police violence...[i]t is quite another to witness a crime, or even be victimized, and decide not to report it". When deciding between the damaged relationship of law enforcement and the people it serves or the lack of proactive policing, I would have to say that the violence in these cities would be more attributed to its broken relations. The downside is that the evidence Desmond has to support his ideal only refers to one city. This is nowhere near a large enough sample size. On the other hand supporters of the Ferguson Effect claim that in Chicago, 911 calls have increased as well as crime, therefore debunking Desmond's argument. Again, this is only one statistic from one city. More research along the entire nation would need to be conducted.  

        Until more evidence supporting either view arises, my opinion is that Mr. Desmond is closer to the reason why crime spikes momentarily in cities that involving police killings, in cases such as Freddie Gray, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, and most recently Terence Crutcher. I do think the key word is momentarily though. In no way would I say that all hell breaks loose and the city becomes overrun. As humans who have the ability the display great emotion, we tend to invest heavily on the now. Especially when its is our friends and family being killed. This tendency is probably why everyone protests or "riots" when an injustice has been done. As a people, we just want to be heard. How can one expect to call the police in troubling situations when they do not trust them or are afraid of them. This could result in the citizens taking matters into their own hands, which could be even worse. Again, both Desmond and supporters of the Ferguson Effect have not displayed overwhelming evidence to prove their cases, so my siding with Desmond is just my opinion. Check it out for yourself!