The Marshall Project: Police Arrested Fewer People During Coronavirus Shutdowns—Even Fewer Were White

“Dawit Getachew, a public defender at the Bronx Defenders in New York, says he’s seen the racial disparity in arrests before and after the pandemic, because he represents clients from a South Bronx neighborhood that is primarily home to black and Hispanic residents.

While Getachew said he is not surprised to learn about the widening gap between arrests of whites and people of color, he said it is a disheartening extension of historically heavy policing in black and brown neighborhoods.

“The discretionary nature of quality-of-life policing can create opportunities for law enforcement to insert their existing bias,” Getachew said.”

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