Essay On Racism In Police Officers

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)

Throughout the last one hundred and fifty years, there has been a history of tension and conflict between the police and minority communities in the United States. In principle, the police exist to enforce the law and protect all citizens regardless of race or ethnic background, yet police departments across the country have been repeatedly accused of targeting and harassing racial minorities, and of failing to root out racist attitudes and practices within their ranks. In recent years, high profile cases such as the beating of Rodney King in Los Angles and the assault on Abner Louima in New York have only served to heighten concerns over the mistreatment of minorities by the police, resulting in widespread calls for major legal and institutional reforms. The recent shootings of Michael Brown, Ezell Ford, Eric Garner, and Terrance Crutcher underscore the danger Black men and boys face when they cross paths with law enforcement officers. In the absence of a coordinated national strategy, state and local police departments have largely been left to develop their own solutions to the problems of policing minority communities and improving cultural sensitivity amongst their officers. Many departments have sought to reform recruitment and selection policies in the hope of attracting greater numbers of minority applicants, while others have instituted diversity training and education programs aimed at improving police understanding of minority cultures and communities. To date, however, these efforts have yielded mixed results. Some departments have achieved notable successes, but on the whole, relations between the police and minority communities across the country remain strained. of cultural diversity and the police.

Social psychologists have studied the cause and effect of biases, specifically by white police officers towards minorities. Implicit bias, specifically racial bias, describes a psychological process in which a person’s unconscious racial belief (stereotypes) and attitudes (prejudices) affect his or her behaviors, perceptions, and judgments in ways that they are largely unaware of and typically, unable to control (Graham).

Can we stop the unjust practice of racial profiling? Is it correct for Police Officers to stop a black driver for an alleged traffic offense to question and sometimes search the black driver? These questions provoke the need to understand racial profiling and racism along with what problems are involved and the possible solutions. Doesn't the use of race make sense? Isn't it really just good police work? The guarantee to all persons of equal protection under the law is one of the most fundamental principals of our democratic society. Our government must continue to evaluate the facts and take appropriate action to resolve this controversial issue.

There are many instances where minorities are not given the chance to prosper in American society. The same system that promises all men equal opportunity has turned its back in the face of minorities. We plan to examine some segments of this system, namely the media and the criminal justice system, exposing injustices burdening minorities in America.

“I’m tired physically and emotionally. I swear to God I love this city, but I wonder if this city loves me. In uniform, I get nasty, hateful looks, and out of uniform some consider me as a threat (Grinberg, 2016).” Those were the words posted by on Facebook by Montrell Jackson, an African-American police officer in Louisiana a few days before his assassination. CNN, a popular news sources released actual photos of the screenshot of his Facebook post. Jackson was murdered in an ambush by a shooter on July 17, 2016. Gavin Long, the suspect, was also an African-American male. Evidence suggests that long was furious, outraged, and disappointed in the Criminal Justice system (Grinberg, 2016). As a result, Long decided to take matters into his own hands. This incident is proof that police officers are faced with hardships daily and they must always expect the unexpected. It is also proof that the Criminal Justice system could use improvement, but violence is not the answer. Saying that, police officers understand that the moment they put on their badge, their duty is to serve and protect. Many police departments are currently working on reconstructing their public image and public perceptions so that they can become more appealing (McNeeley & Grothoff, 2015). Although police officers may be often misunderstood and judged improperly, the correlation between racial

Racial tensions in the United States have been an ongoing event since around slavery and Jim Crow Laws. Americans have focused all of their attention on how police officers treat black Americans.

When people talk about race and American policing, a question that emerges is how the actions of police have impacted the fight against racism faced by African Americans. Some people such as Bill de Blasio, Mayor of New York City, argue that police officers take advantage of how much power they have, while some other people such as Patrick J. Lynch, the president of the New York City Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, think that police officers are doing their job the way it's supposed to be. My own view is the actions of police officers have worsened the fight against racism faced by African Americans due to the numerous accounts of excessive police brutality faced by blacks throughout the years 2000 to 2015. First, many African Americans

Police these days have a bad reputation for police brutality. In the past few years, we have seen multiple police officers being fired or disciplined for unethical situations. In certain states and neighborhoods, police are the bad guys, because of how they treat the community in which they serve. This tension started to climax in 2014, as a police officer shot an African American male named Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri that was when people started seeing police officers in a whole new different light (Buchanan, 2014). While this was happening in Ferguson, the Newark police in New Jersey were being investigated by the Department of Justice (DOJ) for unconstitutional practice. 75% of the people stopped don’t have a valid reason for being stopped. Over

Is the criminal justice racist? Yes, because they regard African Americans as if they are villainous than white people. Authorities arrest more blacks and charge them both differently no matter if the same crime is done. The article clearly states “the evidence is clear: black prison rate result from crime, not racism,” but is that even the truth?

Can anyone be safe in the streets or public stores without a police officer harassing you? Some people say that policemen are helpful to the community on the other hand other, people might say that they come of as being racist because of the shootings towards colored people. It’s really difficult to find truthful stories about police racism knowing that some media don’t want to uncover the truth about law enforcement.

Do you think there is still racism in the world even today? Do you think racism has left the United States of America? Even after a being slave free country for more than 150 years? Have you ever thought , based on the color of your skin or what you believe, that you have a higher chance of being jumped, raped, or killed while walking on the street or in your home by another human. Imagine if this human was the person the country looks up at to protect the all neighborhoods and cities of the US. Police in the US are racist and discriminate against minorities. Policemen, especially white, have been notorious for killing African Americans,

The headline that sparked the negative representing of the police and the perception the American culture now thinks of these law enforcement officers, is the Michael Brown case. Michael Brown, as well as Trayvon Martin, changed the Americans perception on police brutality. The circumstances of these two young males deaths started a movement. Everyday the public is recording police, using social media to start new hash tags, and stories are constantly being told about the inhumaneness people have gone through. This is when media comes into play on the negative factor. As for all we know, without doing any research, the media portrays to us that Michael Brown was just an unarmed black man doing nothing wrong. Not much was said about the alleged altercation between Brown reaching for control of the officer’s weapon and then fleeing the scene. Still to this day I think the debate will be endless, and some may even have déjà vu from the 60s and 70s. The new slogan of “Black Lives Matter” became popular in which they are devoted to get their voices heard. Violence occurs; we hear about it on the media and days later a form of a spontaneous riot transpires. The Michael Brown killing fired up a riot in Ferguson as it brought back a déjà vu forty-five years ago, the militant group, Black Panthers. These Black Panthers allied for supporters to go after law enforcement and kill them, a few murderous underground groups,

Very recently in the US, there has been more attention focused on the police; namely, police brutality and racial profiling. More notably in August 9th of 2014, Michael Brown was shot by a Ferguson Missouri police officer. The teenager was unarmed and was

This nation is reeling from a series of high-profile police shootings involving people of color and racial bias is the reason police officers interact differently with whites and people of color. It is crucial to address how racist ideologies were woven into the fabric of American culture which link directly to slavery and lay the foundation for racism in this country. Racial bias plays a pivotal role and defines the differences in human behavior which vastly affects America's law enforcement communities. It is imperative to resolve the crisis and restore trust between police officers and the communities in which they serve.