You’re a police officer. You’ve just returned from a gang-related shoot-out. Last week you responded to a murder, the week before a violent rape and an armed robbery. Last year your best friend in the force was killed during a routine traffic stop. One thing connects these incidents, the perpetrator was a black man.

According to Bureau of Justice Statistics, blacks make up 13% of the population, but commit 50% of all murders. Blacks are 8.5 times more likely to commit armed robberies than whites. These statistics are similar for other violent offences like rape.

Now there may be genuine reasons for this tendency for violence, like single parent families or poverty.

Knowing what you now know about the tendency for black people to commit violent and serious crimes, is it any wonder that police occasionally overreact?

There is a traffic stop on a car driven by a black man. He is told by the police to keep his hands on the steering wheel. He decides to reach for something behind him. Is it a gun or his wallet?