Bias in damages and systemic racism

There are many reasons for significant racial disparities in policing outcomes, but one stems from a simple but macabre cost-benefit calculation. In the United States, tort damages (such as those awarded for unjustified injury or death of a suspect) are based on actuarial tables that vary by race. As Helen White writes in the Yale Law Journal:

The tables show the average member of a group defined not only by such metrics as age and income but also by race. Problematically, this results in lower damages valuations for Black lives since the tables estimate that they will live shorter lives and earn less money.

If a police chief knows that the cost of an "error" is greater when policing a White neighborhood than a Black neighborhood, simple economics suggests that we would see over-policing of minorities.