Comments on: RRG: Physical Abuse in the Law Enforcement Bodies

By: Brian

Brian — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 17:02:10 +0000

Also, for the survey to get in to a more publishable form, I’d add 95% statistical “confidence intervals” to the percentages; this is typical of almost all surveys. With them you can then rightly extrapolate the survey of the small group of people out to represent what that whole population feels.

For instance: 67% agree with X, +- 5%. This means that based on the number of people you surveyed, you are 95% confident that 62-72% of the population agree with X. (most polls don’t reveal the 95% part).

I’m not a statistician, but I might be able to help out a bit with this.

By: Andrew Yim

Andrew Yim — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 23:13:32 +0000

Well, Jamiyat, if you’re a Dave Chappelle fan, then you’re ok with me :>)

My point wasn’t to equate or compare types of police brutality. There most likely are more checks and oversites in most US municipalities, which may help to minimize police brutality.

My issue was with the methodology of the survey. It’s one thing to ask someone “Do you think there’s alot of police brutality? Who do you think they’re beating?” And in that way, simply proving what you think is the case anyway. Much more compelling though, to spend, let’s say, a month in several trauma centers and document the numbers and types of incidents, along with some testimony. In that way, much less subjective (50% of MDs say there is brutality) and more objective (in region a of Tashkent, we witnessed 10 patients with trauma to head (or abdomen or legs) that required low/medium/high level of care). In my opinion, the second is a more effective, and even powerful, way of documenting and communicating the extent of police brutality.

By: Jamiyat

Jamiyat — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 12:22:21 +0000

To Andrew Yim:

You are right, people in the US quite often suffer from police brutality. But there is perhaps some cultural difference in perception, if you might wish so.

In the US you’d suffer from police, when you commit a crime. In Uzbekistan you might suffer because you were in a wrong time in a wrong place; because your clothes look neat and you might have some extra money, or just because your business rivals try to hinder you from gaining larger profits.

When policeman can’t find the perpetrators of a crime, the first person they see might fall victim in their hands (ok, if to believe Dave Chapelle blacks in the US suffer from the same:), just to keep statistics of crime in balance. There is a phrase in Uzbekistan: “I take him to the “basement”, he will confess everything”. The basement is equivalent to the interrogation rooms in police offices, and what happens there you would wish to know.

It is not playing with lamp directed into your face.

By: Andrew Yim

Andrew Yim — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 00:20:02 +0000

Fascinating data but problematic, it seems. First of all, if you surveyed emergency room MDs in most any urban hospital in the US, you’d most likely get a 100% hit rate with the question “Have you treated someone who was the victim of police brutality?” Police often have to be, well, brutal. And, whether we like it or not, they often have to use extreme force to capture suspects, who often may be psychotic or simply in rage. And they may in some cases be acting within proper protocol and ethical standards. And many times they are not; they are abusing their power. But having treated a patient for injury inflicted by law enforcement once or twice a year is quite different from treating patients each night or a few times a week. The data does not reflect that important distinction. Have I, as a medical professional here in the US ever treated a victim of police brutality - yes, on several occasions. Is there an issue of human rights abuses where I live - hmmm, there are problems with law enforcement, but not to the level of human rights abuses.

A tough issue to canvas, admitedly. But, in my opinion, not a well thought out survey.