How Historical Development of Policing in the United States Relates to Current Relationships between Police and Different Ethnic and Social Groups
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The effectiveness of law enforcement within communities is mediated by the type of relationships that exist between the police and community members. There should be harmony between the police and the citizens for there to be any meaningful law enforcement. The United States is a highly diversified nation consisting of individuals from different cultures, races, social classes, etc. who live together in harmony. However, there is a problem with regard to policing with some ethnic and social groups enjoying positive relationships with the
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Many southern police departments such as the St. Louis police emanated from slave patrols (The National Constables Association, 1995). These police departments continued to direct discontent and abuse to people of color many of whom were former slaves and members of the minority ethnic groups. The disastrous precedent role that had been given to the slave patrols managed to seep through the formal police departments and became a precursor for their operations and functions.
The abuses directed towards these minority ethnic and social groups continued through the 1800’s into the early 1900’s. Schlosser (2013) pointed out that the understanding of community during this time was not taken to include certain groups such as the African-Americans and American Indians and so the criminal justice system was mainly used to maintain social order. The criminal justice system, controlled and dominated by Whites, was deeply entrenched in inequality and discrimination against the mulatto slaves, servants, African Americans, American Indians, and other minority groups (Schlosser, 2013). These injustices persisted until the passage of the Civil Acts Rights of 1964 after which they began to decline. The Act prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in voting, public accommodations, public facilities, public education, federally funded programs, and employment (Jacobs et al, 2015). Although the Civil Rights Act
Police brutality and office involved shootings have sparked national debate and created a strain between police officers and citizens. Recently, there have been more home videos that display acts of aggression by police officers. These police officers often use excessive forces or a condescending tone towards people of color which is why there needs to be a better way to mend police and civilian relationship. People should be able to trust the police in their communities rather than fear them.
There are many key issues that have to be considered by law enforcement agencies when building relationships with the communities they serve. First and for most they have to adequately and fairly address complaints made by members of the community. The police have to provide the same service to minority communities as they would provide a predominately white community. The effect of providing good service could mean that the community will slowly build their trust with police officers. In the long run this will reduce tensions and build trust between the two groups. By building trust the police know they can count on the community when it comes to crime prevention. Reducing the publics fear of crime translates to increased cooperation between
The relationships between police and racial minorities present some of the more difficult problems in policing throughout the world. Such relationships can be pleasant, but they often are challenging. For example, minorities may be deprived of police safety and other services to which they are permitted to. More specifically, police may refrain from addressing criminal behavior like domestic violence within a particular minority group because they believe that members of that group typically take part in such behavior.
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
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.
Another factor in conflicts with this nation’s police force is the differences in races between American neighborhoods and their police force. In order to reduce the presence of racism in law enforcement, the race and ethnicities of the police force must be representative of the population they are responsible
Community relation issues across the nation have been increasing and causing many conflicts between law enforcement and communities. There has been so much disorder between communities and law enforcements not agreeing on how situation have been handled. Both the community and law enforcements having different perspectives on making decisions without ever looking at the others side and acknowledging each other’s reasoning behind their actions. Racism, responsibility and morals are some of many terms that are yet to be sorted out within all these communities that have on going conflicts. The relationships between a community and its law enforcement is important, although it is the police job to enforce, it is also the communities job to enforce all day and everyday (Russell).
There is recent controversy over police use of force, especially in minority communities such as in African American communities, Hispanic communities, and other publics with large populations of minorities. Increased levels of force among these communities have created challenges for police departments. These challenges include a lack of trust from the community towards law enforcement officers and an absence of respect creating situations that lead to police use of force. There are already various programs in place that attempt to decrease this challenge by educating the public, respecting one another, and giving those who were on the wrong track second chances. A combination of these solutions and the implementation of more of them would decrease the number of contacts between police and minorities that lead to the use of force (Roberg & Novak, 2014).
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.
Do relations between the police and minority and the police and non-minority communities differ, how, and for what reasons?"
Laws, policing, communities, and relationships, are constantly shifting. In this course, Police and Diversity 202, with professor Vincent Del Castillo, we’ve explored the pervasive influences and shifts of interactions between law enforcement and diverse groups. In the 21st century factors such as culture, race, ethnicity, stereotypes, and technology, have become so complex in how it affects the relationship between police officers and the community.
This research question will clearly address the variations of police practices over the past 5 years in Baltimore City and Baltimore County, due to the recent incidents regarding police brutality and corruption. Using Chapter 12 Politics, Power, War, and Peace, will help show the relationships between politics in law enforcement and police officers, which deals with a lot of power and peace. Chapter 12 Politics, Power, War, and Peace, Section Cultural Controls in Maintaining Order states “Every culture has various forms of cultural control to ensure that individuals or groups conduct themselves in ways that support the social order. People who challenge or disturb the order face negative consequences” (W. Haviland; pg 315). In Baltimore
Cooperation from members of the public is important in order for police officers to effectively fight crime within the community. In order to obtain cooperation from members of the public, police officers must gain their trust and confidence. It has been known that African Americans and Hispanics have lower levels of trust and confidence in police because of racial disparities and racial profiling. This paper will discuss the public opinion of police by different ethnic groups and how racial minorities hold lower levels of trust and confidence in police.
It has been consistently shown in research that minorities are more likely to be mistreated by the police compared to other people (Dunnaville, 2000). Recent incidents have seen the police use excessive force on people and mistreat minorities. As such, the legitimacy of the police has been put under scrutiny and questioned. Many communities in the United States have demonstrated in reaction to recent incidents of police misconduct and excessive use of force. The people have lost trust in the police because of these issues. The police force has been accused of mistreating people, sexual harassment, violent and careless arrests among people particularly the minorities. As demonstrated in the movie ‘Policing the Police’ police officers are seen mistreating people for instance the scene where the police sexually harassed a teenager by touching sensitive areas. Community members are not willing to trust or work with the police to fight crime. As such, it is critical for the police agencies and department to make improving police-community relationship a top police priority. Policies should be developed that will strengthen the mutual trust between the police and the community. This relationship is critical because the police depend on information from the community to fight crime in the society.
Further strides have been made since this period to include a concentrated effort to make police departments more ethnically diverse. Despite becoming more diverse and laws to protect citizens there remains a great deal of distrust of the police among African-Americans and Hispanics. The Rodney King case was and is a lightning rod for those who point to police abuse based on race. Unfortunately, large numbers of African-Americans, Hispanics, and to a lesser degree other ethnic