“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” declared Martin Luther King Jr. in 1963. Over fifty years later, allegations of injustice remain at the forefront of our nation’s discussions regarding unnecessary shootings, excessive use of force and alleged unprovoked violence towards black males in disproportionate amounts to white males. There is little dispute that police use excessive force in certain situations; however, through research and examining statistics can we determine if there is actual bias in policing, whether such bias plays a role in the use of force in encounters with black males, or if the use of force is actual proper police technique with no application to the race of the arrestee?
First, what is bias? The definition of bias is prejudice in favor of or against one thing, person, or group compared with another, usually in a way considered to be unfair. Every person uses bias sometime in their life so why is a police officer any different? The difference between the average citizen and a police officer is that officers are held to a higher standard and their sole purpose is to protect and serve no matter
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There is likely to be less willingness by officers to pause because of the rise in police officer shootings. Although research has established bias is a helpful necessity in the police force, racial profiling and excessive use of force still remains a valid concern. To attempt to fix these issues and to acknowledge the concerns of many protestors, the justice system must hold officers accountable for their crimes, when they are truly a crime. If an officer is found to have acted outside of the law, or unreasonably given the circumstances, they need to be punished. Being biased is not bad, being bad is bad. Bias is necessary for police officers to do their jobs well. Prejudice is
Throughout the risk assessment process, ideas for action were identified and documented. The documentation of these ideas led to the development of potential action item worksheets which were then selected, prioritized, and refined. Detailed risk assessment information for each hazard is included and located through this document.
The judicial system in America has always endured much skepticism as to whether or not there is racial profiling amongst arrests. The stop and frisk policy of the NYPD has caused much controversy and publicity since being applied because of the clear racial disparity in stops. Now the question remains; Are cops being racially biased when choosing whom to stop or are they just targeting “high crime” neighborhoods, thus choosing minorities by default? This paper will examine the history behind stop and frisk policies. Along with referenced facts about the Stop and Frisk Policy, this paper will include and discuss methods and findings of my own personal field research.
Many people claim that racism no longer exists; however, the minorities’ struggle with injustice is ubiquitous. Since there is a mass incarceration of African Americans, it is believed that African Americans are the cause of the severe increase of crimes. This belief has been sent out implicitly by the ruling class through the media. The media send out coded messages that are framed in abstract neutral language that play on white resentment that targets minorities. Disproportionate arrest is the result of racial disparities in the criminal justice system rather than disproportion in offenders. The disparities in the sentencing procedure are ascribed to racial discrimination. Because police officers are also biased, people of color are more likely to be investigated than whites. Police officers practice racial profiling to arrest African Americans under situations when they would not arrest white suspects, and they are more likely to stop African Americans and see them as suspicious (Alexander 150-176). In the “Anything Can Happen With Police Around”: Urban Youth Evaluate Strategies of Surveillance in Public Places,” Michelle Fine and her comrades were inspired to conduct a survey over one of the major social issues - how authority figures use a person’s racial identity as a key factor in determining how to enforce laws and how the surveillance is problematic in public space. Fine believes it is critical to draw attention to the reality in why African Americans are being arrested at a much higher rate. This article reflects the ongoing racial issue by focusing on the injustice in treatment by police officers and the youth of color who are victims. This article is successful in being persuasive about the ongoing racial iss...
The criminal justice system is full of inequality and disparities among race, gender, and class. From policing neighborhoods, and the ongoing war on drugs, to sentencing, there are underlying biases and discriminatory practices in the criminal justice system that impacts minority communities and groups. Fueled by stereotypes and generalizations, it is important to identify and discuss what crimes take place and who actually makes it up.
In 2014, the death of Eric Garner in New York City raised controversial conversations and highlighted the issues of race, crime, and policing in neighborhoods that tend to be poor and racially isolated. Garner, an unarmed black man, was killed after being tackled and held in a “chokehold.” According to the AP Polls in December 2014, “Police killings of unarmed blacks were the most important news stories of 2014.” The problem is that young black men are targeted by police officers in which they have responded with the misuse of force and policy brutality. It is evident that this issue affects many people nationwide. The civilians do not trust the police department and the justice system because they hold the perceptions that police officers are immune from prosecution despite their actions. In particular, black individuals, specifically black males, do not feel safe in the presence of police officers because they are not held accountable for their mistakes.
In the article “What are the Causes and Effects of Racial Profiling,” the interviews imply that most police officers think that racial profiling means they stop a vehicle or pedestrian solely based on the race or color. In other words, as long as racial or color is not the only base, it is not called racial profiling (“Heal the Street Race”). Most police officers also think that racial profiling is not a widespread problem. They believe that it is only caused by a “few bad apples.” In addition, there is another phrase called biased profiling which officers believe to be more common. They explain that every person has his own preference and methods, so some personal bias is inevitable during investigation. On the other hand, most victims do not think in this way, since African Americans define racial profiling differently. They state that, as long as race or color becomes a factor, they are treated unfairly, because race or color can’t indicate anything related to crime. As a result, the absent of a comprehensive understanding about racial profiling prevents people from really solving the problem. Each side of the argument will have a feeling that they are the real innocent people. And at the same time, racial profiling will keep
These authors’ arguments are both well-articulated and comprehensive, addressing virtually every pertinent concept in the issue of explaining racially disparate arrest rates. In The Myth of a Racist Criminal Justice System, Wilbanks insists that racial discrimination in the criminal justice system is a fabrication, explaining the over-representation of African Americans in arrest numbers simply through higher incidence of crime. Walker, Spohn and DeLone’s The Color of Justice dissents that not only are African Americans not anywhere near the disproportionate level of crime that police statistics would indicate, they are also arrested more because they are policed discriminately. Walker, Spohn and DeLone addi...
The negative views of everyday people often make work hard for officers, adding more stress to their careers. The general public regularly criticizes officers for using excessive force and brutality, especially when a police officer ends up killing a suspect or criminal. Oftentimes, especially when a white police officer shoots a citizen of a minority race, the general public is quick to find faults in the officer, blaming the officer for being racist. However, cold, hard statistics show that the majority of police officers are, in fact, white, and the neighborhoods in which these officers are placed in tend to be high-crime areas with many minority citizens living there (Miller “When Cops Kill”). In addition, people might say that a citizen who was shot was not armed; however, almost anything close to the shot individual could have been turned into a deadly weapon that he or she could have used to wound or kill the officer involved. Whenever officers are in this position, the natural reaction is to defend themselves. Everyday, police officers confront the most aggressive, immoral, and sick-minded individuals of society. Officers jeopardize their own lives every time they report for work. Officers witness things that no person should ever have to encounter. They see the most horrific and gruesome scenes that the general public turns away from and
We must take actions to reform police behavior! The problem is not the police nor the people of the United States, but the Federal Government system in which we all have to abide by. In order for a police reform to be implemented, the system has to be fixed and reconstructed. The people of the United States want to feel protected by the police, but on the other hand, they receive limited training on how to effectively interact with the people in the community they serve. Police officers are ordained by the power of the government. Police reform should start by giving proper training to new recruits and veterans, enforcing community policing and police accountability.
A police officer is a law enforcement official whose job is to protect and serve all people, not to ignore racial equality. Because the U.S consists of many different races and ethnic groups, the ongoing conflict between police officers and citizens of color is constantly rising. Although police officers today are no longer allowed to have racial bias, which can be described as, attitudes or stereotype used against individuals of color to define their actions and decisions, officers sometimes abuse their authority going around racial impact tools and policies. This results in citizens viewing it as discrimination and mass criminalization. By changing the way laws and regulations unfairly impact Black and Brown communities can improve the justice
Holmes, Malcolm D. "Minority threat and police brutality: Determinants of civil rights criminal complaints in US municipalities." Criminology 38.2 (2000): 343-368.
Holmes, M. D. (2000). MINORITY THREAT AND POLICE BRUTALITY: DETERMINANTS OF CIVIL RIGHTS CRIMINAL COMPLAINTS IN U.S. MUNICIPALITIES. Criminology, 38(2), 343-367.
According to Caplan (2003), “cynicism is an inevitable consequence of police work, and a cynic expects nothing but the worst in human behavior” (p.304). When police officers are in uniform most racial minorities see them as a part of an unfeeling institution they can't trust. I believe most police officers are aware of their reality on the streets, but because of frequent danger and the constant reality of staying one step ahead of criminals cause undue cynicism towards the general public. However, research studies has shown this behavior is often more noticeable with veteran officers than newly appointed officers. Next, the ongoing issue of new recruits being rushed through the training academy onto the streets is because there is more crime than available officers to patrol which is one cause of heighten stress for the officers. An example of this comes from a story aired on a local news channel in the
Protests around the world have taken place to fight for justice in the black community. The immense number of deaths of unarmed black men and women is a clear sign that they are more likely to be killed by police than white people. Physical violence and excessive use of force by the U.S. police towards African Americans are seen in the news regularly. “People, including police officers, hold strong implicit associations between blacks, and probably Hispanics, and weapons, crime and aggression," said Jack Glaser. Police brutality statistics show that African Americans are three times more likely to be murdered by cops than any other race. Racial disparity in the United States is a coherent reason for the increase of criminal injustice in the United
Police brutality is an act that often goes unnoticed by the vast majority of white Americans. This is the intentional use of “excessive force by an authority figure, which oftentimes ends with bruises, broken bones, bloodshed, and sometimes even death” (Harmon). While law-abiding citizens worry about protecting themselves from criminals, it has now been revealed that they must also keep an eye on those who are supposed to protect and serve.