(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) An inside source leaked a drafted proposal from the Department of Justice detailing its updated anti-discrimination policies, which, if implemented, would ban the use of crime statistics when enforcing the law for federal agencies such as the FBI.
The new rules would bar agents and other officials from discriminating based on protected characteristics, including the use of “facially neutral factors as a proxy” for specific characteristics.
If the policy is implemented, federal law enforcement could not use a person’s “actual or perceived race, ethnicity, gender, nationality, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, sex characteristics, disability status, or gender identity” in “any degree.”
According to the Daily Caller, the ban would apply to all scenarios—even those where law enforcement could use protected characteristics lawfully.
The leaked document specifically mentioned the “aggressive law enforcement” in “high crime areas.”
Officers who use statistics to make common-sense assumptions about suspects must undergo a review of their reasoning and meet a specific set of criteria to avoid getting into trouble, it said.
“[O]fficers and agents should not use statistics about arrest rates in particular communities when making decisions about where and how to focus their activities,” the document said. “Current and historical patterns of discriminatory law enforcement have led to higher rates of arrest in certain communities, particularly African American communities.”
The DOJ policy explained the “inherently biased and unreliable” nature of crime statistics, claiming that using them “reproduces the very discrimination” the department sought to avoid.
The new policy also would require investigative efforts such as data collection and watch listing.
Recent statistics have shown that repeat offenders commit the majority of crimes in concentrated locations—usually large cities.
A report from the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research stated that less than 5% of the addresses in New York City were responsible for over 50% of the violent crimes.
The report indicated that the scenario is comparable in other cities as well.
