Are The Claims of Racism True or a Distraction?

Are the Claims of Racism True, or a Distraction? Special Episode. From Chicago to West Virginia, a Law Enforcement Perspective. Few accusations are repeated as often, or with as much certainty, as the claim that American policing and the criminal justice system are inherently racist. It’s a powerful narrative, amplified daily across social media, headlines, and political talking points. But is it true? Or has it become a dangerous distraction from facts, context, and real solutions? Look for The Law Enforcement Talk Radio Show and Podcast on social media like their Facebook , Instagram , LinkedIn , Medium and other social media platforms.

That question is at the center of a special episode of the Law Enforcement Talk Radio Show and Podcast, available on their website, also on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Youtube and many major streaming platforms, and discussed across Facebook, Instagram, and the news. The episode features Maurice “Maury” Richards, a former Police Chief in Martinsburg, West Virginia, and a retired Chicago Police Lieutenant with decades of frontline experience.

Experience From Two Very Different Cities

Richards’ career spans two vastly different policing environments, urban Chicago and small-city West Virginia. His perspective is not theoretical or academic; it’s built on years of responding to violent crime, managing officers, and confronting the realities that don’t always make headlines. Supporting articles about this and much more from Law Enforcement Talk Radio Show and Podcast in platforms like Medium , Blogspot and Linkedin .

During the conversation, Richards challenges the popular claim that police shootings in America are driven by racial bias. Instead, he argues that crime patterns, suspect behavior, and officer encounters with violence, not race, largely explain police use-of-force outcomes. Are the Claims of Racism True, or a Distraction? Special Episode.

What the Data Shows

National data consistently reveals that police shootings closely track rates of violent crime and armed encounters, not racial animus. In 2019, police officers fatally shot just over 1,000 individuals nationwide. The majority were armed or posed an immediate threat.

While African Americans represented roughly a quarter of those killed, that proportion has remained stable for years and is lower than what crime and suspect data would predict, given the frequency with which officers encounter armed violent offenders. That context is often missing from public debate. Available for free on their website and streaming on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Youtube and other podcast platforms.

Equally overlooked: in 2019, police fatally shot more unarmed white suspects than unarmed Black suspects, and those numbers have declined significantly since 2015. When placed alongside broader homicide data, unarmed Black suspects killed by police represent a tiny fraction of overall violent deaths involving African Americans.

What Research Actually Concludes

Multiple large-scale studies, spanning economics, criminology, and peer-reviewed science, have examined police use of force. Their findings repeatedly undermine the claim of systemic racial bias in police shootings. Are the Claims of Racism True, or a Distraction? Special Episode. The Law Enforcement Talk Radio Show and Podcast episode is available for free on their website , Apple Podcasts , Spotify and most major podcast platforms.

Researchers have found that:

The likelihood of a fatal police encounter increases with exposure