. The study claimed Onondaga County had the second-highest rate of racial disparity in the 198 counties it surveyed, but Fitzpatrick said those numbers are misleading.”
I concur. The numbers referenced by Mr. Fitzpatrick are indeed misleading. He claims the numbers we should be looking at are the numbers of people actually imprisoned on drug charges. Our D.A. also said the representative sample was a single year and too small to have any real meaning. Finally, the district attorney complained the study did not take into account neighborhoods, economics, or rural/urban settings. He proudly proclaimed that, "I could prove the Earth is flat if I used their methodology."
Our esteemed District Attorney may indeed be correct in his challenge of a single study’s methodology and conclusions. After all, what meaning could one study of one year over a small sample reveal about the attitudes and practices of police and prosecutors here in Onondaga County?
A few years ago while pondering the same question, I commissioned a study by an Economics professor who did a ten year longitudinal analysis which controlled for urban versus rural, demographics, and race. Our District Attorney claims that Blacks in this County are only 9x more likely to be incarcerated for drug offenses. To the contrary, we found that, “the chances of being arrested for drug felonies or drug sales are 20 to 40 times greater for black residents. … These large differences in arrest rate ratios for Onondaga County have persisted over the time period included in this evaluation (1995-2004). This raises important questions, especially given the similar characteristics of the counties included in this assessment—Onondaga, Monroe, and Erie all have diverse urban, suburban, and rural communities.” Further, "the arrest rate ratios in Onondaga County are also higher than those of similar counties in the region and significantly higher than New York State as a whole.”
Hence, Mr. Fitzpatrick’s attack on the single study may be justified. The record from 1995-2007 shows, however, that the situation is far worse than our D.A. admits.
Low income neighborhoods are presumed to be rife with violence against persons and property and hence, stepped up police patrols are concentrated in those areas. An evaluation of the distribution of Level 1 offenses (violence against persons and property) shows that such crimes tend moreso to be occurring in more middle class neighborhoods than in the Southside or near Westside of Syracuse. The types of crimes that show up on activity reports for police in the poor neighborhoods are either on the spot observations by officers or crimes that do not exist absent the presence of police.
Back in 1996 Syracuse University did a study by neighborhood showing the locations and concentrations of Category 1 crimes. These crimes were found to be concentrated in neighborhoods not known for their poverty or concentration of minority residents. At the same time, this same study shows that police forces are being concentrated in neighborhoods where most of the heavy crimes reported require the presence of a police officer. For example, drug transactions or loitering.
Then, in 2003, former Syracuse City Comptroller Minch Lewis did an analysis of police deployments and drug arrests in Syracuse. His conclusions mirrored the 1996 Syracuse University study. Specifically, Mr. Lewis concluded that, “Drug-related incidents result in the highest number of arrests Of the 28,800 arrests, over 6,300, or 21.9 % resulted from drug-related incidents. Drug-related arrests exceeded arrests for assaults, disturbances, and larcenies combined. Arrests for Drug-related incidents were concentrated in six neighborhoods Incidents resulting in arrests were analyzed based on the geographical location by beat of the arresting officer. Arrests for drug-related incidents were concentrated in 6 beats: South West side, Valley West, Central Business District--South, South East Side, Near South West Side, and Near West Side. These beats are located in the urban core of the City. According to the City’s Consolidated Plan for 2003-2004, these neighborhoods “are areas of minority concentration.” They also have high percentages of households with low to moderate incomes.”
Here in Syracuse, in 2000, 2002, 2004, 2005, and 2006, studies, reports, and neighborhood evaluations of Syracuse Police activities show a rising effort of energy concentrated in low income minority neighborhoods. Racial profiling is not the issue; but instead, it is racial stereotyping that is causing the problem.
Local, State and Federal officials keep concentrating their energies and manpower in low income neighborhoods and on drug crimes. Using such high minded language as Operation Impact and the Organized Crime Act, we see that Blacks in this County are the ones who are at greatest risk of arrest, prosecution, and incarceration. They are being rounded up an entire neighborhood at a time; an entire generation at a time.
Under a 14th Amendment analysis, once it is shown there is a significant disparate impact of a facially neutral law upon a protected class, the burden shifts to the State to establish that there is both a compelling reason to have the law and that there is no more narrowly tailored means by which the desired ends can be achieved. Given the huge numbers of people in society engaged in the use and sale of drugs compared to the relatively insignificant number of those people who are investigated and prosecuted and that of those who are, that a significant number of those persons are African American, more than just eyebrows should be raised.
Rush Limbaugh said it best. “The solution is not to free the Blacks, but to arrest more White people.” Clearly there is no way that police and the State could handle the prosecution and incarceration of every single drug user, abuser, seller, buyer, transporter, and their support industries. More people would be in prison than there would be persons to guard them.
Something about the Drug War, the law itself, and the actions by police here in Upstate New York is causing tremendous loss of life and freedom. An entire generation lost; their spouses, children, and later release from prison drive millions onto welfare roles. They are shut out of social services, housing, education, and the right to vote. If the law was applied fairly, then the discussion would be different but it is not and we all pay the price.
Our District Attorney should be embarrassed to stand proud and proclaim there is no racial bias in Onondaga County arrest and prosecution rates. He can attack a single study or a single reporter. Over time and over multiple studies, the result is the same: Onondaga County is a very dangerous place for an African American and that police and prosecutors are a threat to freedom and liberty. Their statements go unchallenged and reporters ignore the problem.
