Donovan X. Ramsey writes:
‘…America is safer than it was 20 years ago. Really. Still, white Americans (and many black Americans, for that matter) believe there’s more violent crime than there actually is, and that blacks are largely responsible for it.
In fact, nearly half of white Americans polled believe that violent crime has increased in the last 20 years. Another 13 percent believe that it’s stayed the same. Less than a quarter of whites realize there are less violent crimes today than there were in the 90s when the crack epidemic and gang violence were at their height. Even more, whites overestimate just how much blacks are involved in “serious street crime” and, on average, believe that black people commit a larger proportion of crime than whites do. According to a 2012 study by researchers at the University at Albany, whites significantly overestimate the share of armed robberies, break-ins and drug crimes committed by black people.
via Police Reform Is Impossible in America.