thedayafter
Pro Bowler
- Joined
- Nov 27, 2004
- Messages
- 1,816
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Current research on NFL player arrests verses the general population:
Take away 50 repeat offenders in the NFL since 2000, and you eliminate almost 40 percent of the incidents. It's the same phenomenon that led 67.5 percent of prisoners released in 1994 to be rearrested within three years, according to a study cited by the U.S. Department of Justice. (The Goodall plan)
Take away 50 repeat offenders in the NFL since 2000, and you eliminate almost 40 percent of the incidents. It's the same phenomenon that led 67.5 percent of prisoners released in 1994 to be rearrested within three years, according to a study cited by the U.S. Department of Justice. (The Goodall plan)
- The San Diego Union-Tribune reviewed hundreds of news reports and public records since January 2000 and found that the league's biggest problems with the law are in many ways just as ordinary: drunken driving, traffic stops and repeat offenders.
- Contrary to public perception, the arrest rate among NFL players is less than that of the general population.
- The arrest rate for the general population (about one per 21 people) is higher than the NFL's, which has averaged about one incident per 45 players per year since 2000
- There have been 308 arrests or citations for NFL players, not including minor traffic infractions (04/06/07).
- The most prevalent charge was driving under the influence, which accounted for almost a third of the arrests. Over half of all incidents came after traffic stops or were vehicle-related, including DUIs and searches that turned up drugs or guns.
- Almost 40 percent (122) were committed by 50 players with multiple arrests, including DUI and other offenses.
- The most troublesome positions were defensive back and wide receiver, which accounted for 130 incidents. By contrast, offensive linemen and quarterbacks combined for 41.
- To analysts and those who study crime and race in society, this all adds up to one thing. They say it's a media-amplified microcosm of America, where rich young men like to party and, because of complex environmental factors, where the rate of incarceration for blacks in the United States is five times that of whites.
- “You can say for sure the athletes have a problem, but athletes are not the problem,†said Richard Lapchick, director of the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida. “They are representative of society where many of these issues are epidemic.â€Â
- While drunken driving arrests were the most common arrest among NFL players, the arrest rate was below that for males under 30 in the United States, which is roughly 2 percent, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. In the NFL, it's about one DUI arrest per 144 players (less than 1 percent), based on the review.
- Of the 308 incidents, unofficially only 29 were involving whites, including three with kicker Sebastian Janikowski. That means about 90 percent of the incidents involved black players, who make up about 70 percent of the league.
- Blacks compose about 13 percent of the U.S. population but comprise 30 percent of those arrested and more than 40 percent of those in prison, according to recent studies.
- “The disproportionate numbers of African-Americans (on the list of incidents) is largely representative of what happens to them in the general population,†said Alejandro del Carmen, chair of the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at The University of Texas at Arlington.
- Racial profiling in law enforcement enters the equation, too, and has been documented in studies pertaining to traffic stops. “The whole issue of driving while black is not a figment of somebody's imagination,†said Peter Roby, director for The Center for Study of Sport in Society at Northeastern University.
- How the media reports the arrests can complicate the problem and feed stereotypes. USA Today recently showed photos of 41 arrested players on its sports cover; two were white.(Evans still on the SS page)