Is it really that blacks commit crimes at a higher rate? Or are they just arrested at a higher rate

[haele]

42. Being put in jail is not the same as being convicted and sent to prison.

Jail for most people is typically a holding cell.
People are put in jail all the time for simple possession, just like they are for drunk driving and other misdemeanors. And they stay in jail until the fine is paid, bail is posted, the filing of charges is dropped, or the arrestee is assigned a hearing. Sometimes for a few hours, sometimes for a few days.

In the meantime, their lives are slowly being taken apart. They miss work, and if they aren't in a critical position, lose their jobs. They have to identify on future employment paperwork and/or leases that they were arrested, if that's one of the questions on the form, along with the "drug use" question. War on Gangs, War on Drugs, y'know.
As part of my current employment, I had to let them know about any legal issues - as minor as traffic tickets - and I'm a f'n IT Engineer with 35 years of experience. (Two lapsed registration tickets, one overdue/overlooked parking fine on a rental car over a 20 year period.)

Some employers don't care if your arrest even went to trial, they just need to know if you were "arrested" to make the yes or no determination to hire.

So a disproportionate profiling effort that targets "scary colored people of low class" will ensure that there's a constant legal pressure, a "presumption of guilt" on the POC population - a population that is already suffering from societal isolation and have fewer normal opportunities for resources available to them. Pretty near every resource available to the poorer communities require jumping through all sorts of belittling hoops to prove they "earned" the right to citizenship. Profiling just makes it harder; one mistake that is typically ignored or forgiven in groups where the population is considered normal (i.e., middle class professionals who look like a media portrayal of "normal citizens&quot warrants harsh punishment on people who don't look an acceptable social stereotype.

Haele