When Advocacy Meets Fallacy

Recently, on The Patch's "Speak Out" board, Mike Ruehle, a frequent Patch commenter and habitual Long Beach PD critic, posted the map shown above. Under the map, Mr. Ruehle appears to have added the following caption:

"LBPD Misconduct Nation's Highest".

I was immediately curious. The map which Mr. Ruehle posted did not seem to support the caption he had added beneath it. First, the map appeared to be divided into states and counties, not cities. Second, the color-coded legend to the right side of the map seemed to clearly denote one or two other counties in the nation with the same shading as that shown for Los Angeles County. Neither did Mr. Ruehle cite the source of the map, nor offer any other information to provide needed background or context.

I decided to do some basic research to learn more about Mr. Ruehle's apparent claim that LBPD had the highest level of misconduct in the United States.

Using the title at the top of the map, I was able to track down its source which turns out to be the "National Police Misconduct Reporting Project" hosted by the CATO Institute. From there I searched various links on the site and finally found a report entitled: "2010 Quarterly Q2 Report". This report includes the map Mr. Ruehle had used.

Having found the map's source, I set about reviewing the report and trying to determine what information might support Mr. Ruehle's claim. Unfortunately, neither the map nor the report had any information about Long Beach PD.

If readers take the time to review the report, they are likely to find a lot of valuable, if somewhat dated, information there. For instance, readers will find that neither the City of Long Beach nor Long Beach PD are mentioned anywhere.

Readers will also find that, while California had the highest reported incidence of police misconduct during the reporting period (first half of 2010), the State was in the bottom 30% of all States in reported incidents per capita.

Readers will also see that three California jurisdictions with 500-999 officers made the top 20 in reported misconduct and that, although LBPD is of that size, it was not among those agencies listed in the top 20.

Readers will also note the following qualifier in the "Important Notes" section of the report:

"The data collected and presented here...is, by no means, an accurate gauge that truly represents the exact extent of police misconduct..."

My friends, this is what can happen when advocacy meets fallacy. Mr. Ruehle has a long and vocal history of publicly criticizing the Long Beach Police Department. Sometimes his critiques can be said to be valid, particularly when he provides factual information to support them.

Many times, however, Mr. Ruehle uses local internet news sites like The Patch to provide misinformation supported by fallacy. In his zeal to draw attention to what he perceives to be Long Beach PD's various challenges and failings, Mr. Ruehle often resorts to blatantly misleading his audience. Sadly, he does not seem to realize that when he plays these sorts of games, he severely undermines his credibility and sabotages his own efforts to inform others of his concerns.

If Mr. Ruehle's true goal is to bring about meaningful and constructive change within Long Beach PD, I suggest there are far better ways to accomplish that goal.

There are more than enough provable facts available that may or may not serve to support Mr. Ruehle's repeated critiques of the Long Beach Police Department. Regardless of one's views about Long Beach PD, however, if people cannot present their information with integrity and intellectual honesty, their efforts prove all but meaningless.

I welcome your comments.

John B. Greet is a Long Beach native and retired Long Beach Police Sergeant, now living in the Pacific Northwest.