Not seeing the wood for the trees?

It is an uncomfortable fact that the majority of married women who are murdered are killed by their husbands. When a married woman is killed therefore, it is inevitable that the husband will initially become the police's main suspect. They would be failing in their duty if they did not take account of, and act on that statistical evidence. Nobody would seriously suggest that this means that the police have somehow got it in for husbands generally and were discriminating against them. The present hand-wringing about the fact that stop and search is being used proportionately more against young coloureds has to be seen in this context. If statistics show that a certain type of crime is predominantly committed by six foot redheads who drive a Skoda, and you were seeking to prevent such crimes, you would be more likely to pull over and question a six foot redhead driving a Skoda, than a five foot blond driving a Ford - it's that simple.