A few facts for letter writer Larry Benson regarding police contacts (“Long on opinions, short on facts” published Oct. 6).

“There’s a world of difference between truth and facts. Facts can obscure the truth.” – Maya Angelou

Facts reinforcing the truth regarding police shootings:

1) Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice: police killings fell about 70 percent between 1970 and 2010.

2) 2018 FBI Uniform Crime Report: 2,925 African Americans murdered; 89 percent (2,600) were Blacks killing other African Americans. In 2018 10.3 million police made 7.7 million arrests; 2.1 million, or 27.4 percent, were Black.

3) FBI UCR: Confounding variables are rarely discussed by the media. Groups engaged in violent crimes have more contacts with law enforcement risking a higher chance of being shot. In 2018 1.2 million violent crimes were committed; there were 14,123 homicide victims. Blacks comprised 38.7 percent of the homicides offenders, compared to 29.9 percent for whites.

4) 2019 Washington Post’s Fatal Force: Police killed 999 people in the U.S; 251 were Black, while 405 were white. Police shot 54 unarmed suspects — 26 whites and 12 African Americans.

5) 2015 Bureau of Justice Statistics: Of 53.5 million people contacted by police, overall, 87.2 percent whites and 83.5 percent Blacks stated the police behaved properly; 1.8 percent of the contacted drivers experienced force or threat of force.

6) 2019 Census: Estimated 328.3 million people lived in the U.S. African Americans comprised 13.4 percent, or 43.9 million. During confounding variable confrontations, police shot/killed one unarmed black man for every 3.65 million African Americans. This is the epidemic the media chooses to focus on. Detailed media reports on the Black homicides etch names on the readers/viewers minds, however, these journalistic efforts seldom extend to white victims.

7) 2018 Census Data: White median household income was $68,000 while the median Blacks income was $41,500 in 2018. In 2017, 65 percent of Black households had a single parent compared to 24 percent of white households, according to the Annie E. Casey Foundation “Kids Count Data Center.” According to studies, children in single parent homes are four times more likely to be poor and three times more likely to end up in jail by age 30. More father-child interaction, the less crime.

Mainstream media, liberals and protesters claim the violence of a few rioters doesn’t represent most of the peaceful groups. Yet, they argue the actions of one bad officer represents the entire law enforcement community. Everyone agrees, eliminate excessive force/violence on all sides.

Malcolm X: “The worst enemy that the Negro have is this white man that runs around here drooling at the mouth professing to love Negros and calling himself liberal, and it is following these white liberals that has perpetuated problems that Negros have. If the Negro wasn’t taken, tricked or deceived by the white liberal, then Negroes would get together and solve our own problems.”

George Terhaar

Enumclaw