This past week, while all eyes were on Serena Williams’s historic (albeit unsuccessful) run in the US Open, another incident not too far from the arena has reignited the national conversation about police abuse and misbehavior. And as New York City officials rushed to get ahead of yet another embarrassing story, it’s important to remember that this type of incident is a common part of everyday policing.

With protests against police brutality a constant drumbeat reverberating across the national landscape, the city responded swiftly to reports of a white officer’s seemingly unprovoked attack a black athlete. The mayor quickly released a statement apologizing and NYPD police commissioner Bill Bratton, for his part, conceded that Blake’s takedown appeared inappropriate. The officer involved, James Frascatore, was immediately assigned to desk duty.

But at the same time, city officials offered up contradictory versions of event that the press nonetheless continued to report as fact, especially since the officers involved had not filed any report on Blake’s arrest. In some versions of the police explanation of events the officers wereinvestigating a theft of shoes and credit card fraud, while in othersBlake had been pointed out by an unidentified GoButler courier as someone who illegally purchased a phone. (The concierge service GoButler later refuted any link to Blake’s misidentification.) Police soon released an Instagram picture of a person who looked remarkably like Blake, arguing he was the suspect they were looking for, only subsequently admitting that the unnamed black man in the photo was also innocent of any crime. No photos of the two men actually charged for the crime have yet been released.

Despite these inconsistencies in both the alleged crime or why an apparently nonviolent offense warranted such a violent arrest, the police—and far too many members of the media—have continued to frame Blake’s arrest as the unfortunate byproduct of a legitimate investigation. Blake resembled a suspect in a case. He was simply someone who “found himself on the wrong side of the law,” according to NBC Nightly News. This was all just a mistake.

 The word “mistake” implies that this incident was a departure from normal police conduct in New York City. This is simply not true. The word “mistake” implies that this incident was an aberration, a departure from normal police conduct in New York City. But we know that this is simply not true. According to the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), at the peak of stop-and-frisk street interrogations in 2011, 87% of people stopped by police were black or Latino. And yet 88% of people detained were totally innocent of any crime and released without charges. Moreover, between 2006 and 2014, claims of police misconduct have risen 150%. Even the conservative-leaning Wall Street Journal pointed out that the New York Police Department had stopped more black men then actually lived in New York City. That’s a lot of “mistakes.”

Put another way, Blake’s arrest seems far more indicative of the attitude of the NYPD toward black and brown men over the past decade than it does of any supposed aberration. Indeed, after only four years on the force, the police officer who attacked Blake has been sued four times and been the target of five filed complaints for using excessive force in arrests involving black men. But despite this troubling work history, Frascatore was still on the job.

Not surprisingly, top cop Bratton has continued to maintain that race played no role in this or similar interactions. “Let’s put that nonsense to rest right now, race had nothing to do with this,” he told a group of reporters last week. This is certainly not the first time Bratton has refused to admit that his officers discriminate based on race. In an April interview with CNN, Bratton argued that the disproportionate number of Black and Latino stops was merely a natural reflection of the population in high-crime areas where the most police work occurs. Yet, James Blake’s takedown occurred outside a swanky hotel in an upscale neighborhood.

 Just as a reminder, in America, an unarmed black person is seven times more likely to be killed by police than a white counterpart. Just as a reminder, in America, an unarmed black person is seven times more likely to be killed by police than a white counterpart. And based on how black an arrested person appears, they’re more likely to get a tougher sentence for the same crime. While it may make Bratton and others feel better to ignore the role race plays in criminal justice, it also means ignoring the very real impact police behavior has on the lives of black and brown citizens.

Eric Garner, Akai Gurley, Amadou Diallo and the numerous other unarmed black people killed by New York police officers did not survive to tell their side of the story. Unlike Blake, they did not have a Harvard education, a celebrity profile or a direct line to the national press. James Blake dresses well. He rose to dazzling success in his professional field, believes that police are largely good, and has no criminal record. And, still, he was singled out and attacked. When it comes to reporting on these altercations in the press, it’s important to keep research, data, and information about racial disparities in policing front and center in any conversation.

Looking beyond the racial implications for a second, James Blake’s arrest is a frightening example of what policing looks like today. A man, smiling at a stranger, is suddenly thrown facedown onto the concrete. He is held, without questioning, for an extended period of time andthen released without apology. This incident does not simply show the way that racial bias affects interactions with police—it shows a police force out of control and badly in need of a policy and cultural overhaul.

Ultimately, what happened to James Blake was not a mistake or an isolated incident, but rather another data point in a long pattern of discriminatory behavior on the part of the NYPD. This case is particularly striking, however, especially for those who believe that good behavior and a pleasant attitude will help you avoid frightening confrontations with police. Racial bias in policing and criminal justice is a deep part of what maintains American inequality. The media, and the public at large, must always keep these larger structural problems in mind—the stories we tell matter, but so does the way we tell them.

Follow Khadijah on Twitter at @khadastrophic. We welcome your comments at [email protected].

Former tennis star James Blake, whose caught-on-camera takedown by a plainclothes New York City police officer prompted apologies from the mayor and police commissioner, said Saturday that the officer who wrongly arrested him should be fired.

“I don’t think this person should ever have a badge or a gun again,” Blake, 35, said a day after surveillance video of the arrest outside a Manhattan hotel — and details about previous complaints over the officer’s use of force — became public.

“I don’t think it’s too much to ask,” he added.

Blake, who had been ranked as high as No. 4 in the world before retiring after the 2013 US Open, was misidentified by a cooperating witness as being part of a scheme to sell fraudulently purchased merchandise when he was tackled, police have said.

James Frascatore, the arresting officer who has been with the NYPD for four years, has been named in several civil rights lawsuits alleging excessive force. He has also been the subject of four civilian complaints — an above-average number for NYPD officers, according to complaint data.

“I think that that kind of police officer tarnishes the badge, which I have the utmost respect for, and I believe that the majority of police officers do great work and they’re heroes,” Blake said. “So this person doesn’t ever belong in the same sentence with the heroes that are doing the right kind of police work and keeping the public safe.”

A message left at a number listed for Frascatore, 38, wasn’t immediately returned. Officials have said he was exonerated of one civilian complaint, a second was unsubstantiated and that he was sanctioned for not identifying himself in a third. The status of the fourth complaint was unclear.

“This person doesn’t ever belong in the same sentence with the heroes that are doing the right kind of police work and keeping the public safe.”

James Blake, on the police officer who mistakenly arrested the former tennis star

A spokesman for his union did not return a message seeking comment Saturday. But on Friday, Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association president Patrick Lynch said Blake’s arrest was made “under fluid circumstances where the subject might have fled, and the officer did a professional job of bringing the individual to the ground.”

Frascatore has been placed on desk duty while internal affairs detectives continue their investigation. At issue is not only Blake’s takedown but also whether the use of force wasn’t properly reported up the chain of command — leaving police brass to learn of it after Blake spoke to the media.

Determining what discipline, if any, Frascatore could receive likely won’t happen any time soon.

Depending on the results of an internal investigation, he could face departmental charges. If Frascatore chooses to fight those charges, he would do so in a departmental trial in which he could face such punishments as a loss of vacation days and performance monitoring.

Commissioner William Bratton, who earlier this week apologized personally to Blake, ultimately will decide Frascatore’s fate.

A police spokesman declined to comment on Blake’s remarks, saying the internal investigation is ongoing.

Blake said Saturday that he was appreciative of Bratton and Mayor Bill de Blasio’s apologies, as well as their invitations to discuss further policing issues, including the use of body cameras, training and ways to ensure more accountability.

But he also said he hoped others who have been wrongly arrested or mistreated by officers would receive the same treatment.

“I’m sure this isn’t the first time police brutality has happened, and I’m sure it’s not the last time,” Blake said. “So I want them to apologize to the people that this happens to that don’t have the same voice that I have.”