This reaction paper is based on a black police officer, Edward Raymond serving in the N.Y.P.D. whom from an early age had a rough upcoming. Being part of the minority Raymond experienced firsthand the difficulties growing up with gang violence around him, drug selling and even frequent killings. Although being around all these activities Raymond never chose to partake in any of them but rather focused on working and attending school. Raymond at his young age was described as having a powerful, rigid sense of morality, despite the fact of always talking about the troubles of gang violence and drugs, he was frequently stopped by the police at least once a week.
Ray was influenced by a family friend who had become a police officer, raving
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His supervisors didn’t approve his approach, criticizing he was bringing the number of arrest down and he got punished for it. The punishment for officers like this is putting them into spaces they call “The Box” which includes video monitoring at fixed post or including other unwanted assignments. This is when Ray realized he had to do something to protect himself.
He began recording his conversations with other police officers, mostly supervisors who would punish him for the way he performed him job. Ray’s first recordings were about a warning about a lieutenant confronting him about his low activity and admitting that the department was all about the numbers. Ray’s post and reputation grew worse, but he still continued to give less summons. His immediate supervisor who was also a black sergeant from Trinidad called him in to give him a negative evaluation, which he had been forced by his superiors, so he continued to ask questions to get confessions on the recordings.
Raymond found out about the lawsuit other officers were had put together and no longer felt alone, he felt like he had to contribute and signed it quietly. At this same time a new commander in his district came in and immediately began to go after Raymond, so he proceeded to asking his supervisor to re-do his evaluation to give him even a less score which will prevent him making it to sergeant as well. Raymond later filed
The brutality of the police force has been a long worldwide problem, but especially between the years of 2012-2016. Black people are being unjustly beaten and shot in plain sight for doing nothing while being unarmed. Journal of African American Studies “Blacks are viewed as deserving of harsh treatment in the criminal justice system” (482). “Black males with more “Afrocentric” features may receive longer sentences than blacks with less Afrocentric features like lighter skin and straighter hair”(482). Nowadays it is important to know about the police force. It’s important to know our rights as citizens and be careful around cops. Not everybody is good, but not everybody is bad also. In The New York Amsterdam News 21 people were killed by Chicago police in 2008. Entire families were being attacked. They believe it’s because of their skin color and how they are different. The year of racism started off with the world seeing the police murder of Oscar Grant. “The media have pushed people away from hearing the issue of police brutality, and it has fallen off of the radar screen.”(2) “You can’t give in. They will try to make an example out of you, try to break your spirit!”(2) African Americans say do not trust the cops with anything. “They will ruin you.”(2)
The following piece of work will discuss racism within the criminal justice system by viewing the Black Lives Matter movement, the roles of law enforcement and how that effects citizens, and potential solutions to the problems in the system. Within our criminal justice system, it is evident that there is a problem by the ratio of blacks in prison, and the number of police brutality cases in the country.
Chapter 4 in The Color of Justice: Race, ethnicity, and crime in America, was about the relations between society and law enforcement officers. This has been a major topic, especially in the United States for a long time. The unfortunate statistic that minorities are more likely to encounter being killed, arrested, and victimized by excessive physical force; has been a real issue even in today’s society. However, police departments are trying to combat the way police officers interact with the community; especially those of color. Although steps have been takes there are still some instances where police aggression happens. With all of the issues that arise between certain minority populated community’s police it is evident that conflict
When it comes to the topic of police reform, many agree that our country is long overdue for it, however, the questions are how exactly do we, as a nation, go about changing one of the most powerful structures to exist in the country. While some believe that reform must come from within the individually flawed police departments, others argue that the entire criminal justice system needs an overhaul. In this Response essay about Ta-Nehisti Coastes’ essay “The Myth of Police Reform,” Coates is saying, that the criminal-justice system is not working as well as it should. They are putting people, especially African Americans in jail or killing them. Some people have a mental or physical disability or a have a drug or alcohol problem that
Racially biased statements and racial slurs have become an everyday staple in many police departments, but they go usually unreported. A Department of Justice investigation into the Baltimore Police department found examples of this exact behavior. When the DOJ interviewed the Baltimore community,
It was well recognized also due to the fact that it portrayed the unpleasant relationship that the Black community and the Justice system share; in particular the Police (Aylward, pg. 83) The R.D.S case consisted of a white police officer, a seventeen year old male known as R.D.S, and R.D.S’ cousin who was being arrested by a police officer. (Aylward, 2000) This case became well known primarily based on the grounds of Critical race litigations due to the sole fact that it consisted of a black male being falsely charged by a white police officer. It also created tension between the black and white communities because it was becoming a pattern for white police officers to hurt or falsely accuse black individuals. There were also many similar racial offences occurring including the Rodney King case which was in the United States rather than Canada. (The Nizkor Project, 1997) The R.D.S litigation caused uproar because the Judge that was appointed to the case was a black female judge, Corrine Sparks, and based on the witnesses and evidence that was provided she acquitted R.D.S of the offences. This however led to the racial tension because the white community thought that he was acquitted merely due to the fact that he was Black, as was the judge, and not because the evidence supported his story rather than the officers. This case was then taken to the Supreme Court of Canada, where Sparks’ decision was settled with and R.D.S was acquitted once again.
Many of the problems and conflicts between the community and the police are based on situations involving police misconduct and race. Other issues occur because of an experience one has had with the police because he or she is minority. Early resentments from White officers cause a different outcome when handling a police situation that involves a different race as oppose to his or her own. This begins to shape the perception of the residents that witness these actions. It has been shown that an officer’s attitude and behaviors when dealing with a minority is harsher and unfair. Several situations like the Rodney King story and police brutality where a minority was the victim is viewed by the public and discriminatory behavior solely caused by a person’s race or ethnicity. This creates distrusts and suspicion with regard to the way a police department handles these issues. The public is disappointed and reluctant to construct a relationship with his or her fellow officer.
On August 6, 2015 at 12:30 am, a loud noise jolted Officer Billy Raymond awake. While in Newcastleton, a place in New Setonia, Aaron Jackson drove his beaten down Ford F-150 pickup truck quickly out of a stop sign. Officer Raymond believed this caused the disturbance of peace of the
Historically there has been conflict between the american police force and members of minority groups. In recent years this conflict has moved into the eye of the public, through the media attention given to events like Ferguson. Outrage and unrest ensued and the backlash from these events were felt all over the US if not internationally. The result of these events lead to politicians and the police pledging reforms to improve the relations between law enforcement and members of minority groups. However many still believe that nothing has changed and that law enforcement is still more likely to use excessive force when dealing with members of those minority groups. Research has started to be conducted on this issue and many try to find solutions. This paper will provide a literary review of the current literature regarding this topic and will further provide some ways in which the relationship between law enforcement and the public can be improved.
Police Brutality against African American people has begun to take a toll on our communities. African American communities cannot even trust the police, because of the way they are being treated unfairly by a police officers of them distract or their state. Which is why the police are being coming more advanced in technology, but still fail to use their powers as an officer correctly. This cause the police officers are using misconduct against African American people when confronted by them. This research leads me to conclude that the police department of many states across the United States becomes more corrupted every day because of the lack of order in our police departments. In this essay, I will argue that the policing between black
The police violence cases have gained popularity in the recent years with some of the community members terming the scenarios as post-racial experiences (Gilmore, 2004). Arguments have been established suggesting that the society lives or exists in two nations. One of the nations is perceived to consist of the blacks and the rest being the whites. The various views concerning the citizens in the US contributed to the members of the community initiating a program to assist in curbing injustices existing concerning the racial differences. The directive of this report is to identify the issues contributing to the increased racial segregation and police brutality in the society.
A great deal of society views law enforcement officers as heroic and honorable individuals, whose main purpose is to protect and serve the community. For many officers, this description is accurate, however for others; violence and brutality against innocent citizens is part of getting the job done. For years, minorities have fallen victim to police brutality based on racial profiling, stereotypes and other
Police brutality has become a frequent and sensitive debate for some time now. The encounters between the police and men of color have brought to light an underlying thought in the minds of many. Has racism been resolved or has it manifested itself in modern times? Hinton highlights the unfortunately clear divide in the way that people are policed. Personally, I believe racism cannot and will not disappear in the hearts of people, however, the system, especially the criminal justice and law enforcement systems, with which we all live under should not put African Americans in a state of internal nervousness out of not being sure if the color of their
Police shootings of young Black males that ultimately result in their death have become an all-too-common occurrence in this country. The deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Gardner have highlighted police relations with this population. Before viable solutions can be established, a number of areas need to be addressed that relate to the historical context in which police relations with this group exist that impact current relations between the police and young Black males, why their lives are seemingly given less value by society than those of their White counterparts, the role that spirituality and religiosity play that may help to make connections between them and the police, and the benefit of the Black church in fostering amicable police relations with young Black males.
The criminal-justice system and racism is one of the most controversial topics today. Very few times in history has had Americans split in two with their opinions. These events have caused dissension towards police officers, African Americans, and the media itself. In 2006, blacks made were under 13% of America’s population, yet made up 37.5% of all federal and state prisoners. (Mac Donald) This statistic shows just how much African Americans are involved in law enforcement, while being such a minority group. Racism has been a problem in America for a long time. Even though all race are equal, many African Americans use racism as the go-to explanation of bad outcomes for them. This topic was chosen because of all the commotion it stirs and of all the lies that sometimes can come with it.