Roland Fryer Answers Reader Questions About His Police Force Study

A new study on police force found no bias against black civilians in police shootings in 10 cities and counties, including Houston. It did find bias against blacks in every other type of force, like the use of hands or batons. The study provoked debate after it was posted on Monday, mostly about the volume of police encounters and the scope of the data it used. Below, the author of the study, Roland G. Fryer Jr., a professor of economics at Harvard, answered questions from readers.

What about the chance of a police encounter?

Mr. Fryer’s study looked only at what happens once the police have stopped civilians, not at the chances of being stopped in the first place. Many readers questioned whether that was the right denominator. Other research has shown that blacks are more likely to be stopped by the police....

Read more at The New York Times.