In a recent incident, Ryan McNeil, Director of Harm Reduction Research at Yales School of Medicine, was caught on a hot mic criticizing Shawn Hill, co-founder of the Greater Harlem Coalition, for suggesting that researchers should engage with Harlem residents about the impact of increased local drug activity.
This incident has sparked a debate about the disconnect between academic research and the realities of everyday citizens.
McNeil was conducting a research on safe injection sites and had an hour-long interview with Hill via Yale University Zoom. After the interview, McNeil was caught on a hot mic lambasting Hill for his suggestion. "That dude suuuuuuuuucked, McNeil was heard saying, indicating his disapproval of Hill's recommendation.
Hill had urged the researchers to engage with the local community, saying, Rather than talking to people like me, a talking head, on the street impact, go and find out what people say. However, McNeil seemed more interested in upholding his ideological agenda of drug decriminalization than understanding the ground realities.
The safe injection site at Harlems East 126th Street, for instance, has been reported to have introduced harms to the community. Human feces litter the nearby MetroNorth train platform, and dealers loiter alarmingly close to a school directly across from the safe-injection site.
McNeil's dismissive attitude towards Hill's concerns reflects a broader issue in academia. Many academics, like McNeil, are funded to confirm the political findings that they seek. For instance, the Data Collaborative for Justice at Manhattans John Jay College of Criminal Justice, which is funded by NYC tax dollars, published a report in March claiming that cops are disproportionately issuing summons in black and Hispanic neighborhoods, which they say perpetuates the criminalization of poverty.
This report was issued without considering if these neighborhoods suffer from disproportionately high levels of summons-able crimes, such as reckless driving, open drug consumption, and disorderly conduct. Data indicates that traffic deaths have surged by 13% in black neighborhoods and a horrifying 30% in Hispanic ones. Meanwhile, in 2022, the overdose rate was over one-and-a-half times greater for NYC blacks than whites.
A Gallup poll found that 81% of black Americans want the same or more policing in their own communities. And per a Manhattan Institute survey, most want greater quality-of-life enforcement combating broken windows offenses such as public urination, graffiti, and littering.
Despite the public outcry, academic institutions and city agencies continue to invest in ideologically biased criminal-justice studies. These studies often impose progressive reforms on the communities who know they dont work. The recent incident involving McNeil and Hill serves as a stark reminder of the disconnect between academic research and the realities of everyday citizens.
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