[rbecker]

> Instead they are disproportionately black and other minorities.

Disproportionate to what? Their share of the population, or their share of homicides committed? (Using homicide because, unlike other crimes, it's hard to bias the numbers by over-policing. You'll catch more jay-walkers if you assign more police to an area, but you'll get roughly the same number of dead bodies.)

> Totally agree with your point that incentivizing "pandering to criminals" can be a bad thing though

If so many people are considered criminals that pandering to them is required to win elections, then perhaps it's the legal system that's in the wrong.