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Procedural Justice And Corruption In The Chicago Police Department

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After the rise of groups like Black Lives Matter in response to the shootings of African-Americans, police departments are being forced to take a second look at the way they interact with minority communities. The problem in many communities is that law enforcement officials do not mirror the communities that they police. In cities like South Houston, the population is 90 percent Hispanic. The police in this area are almost 75 percent white.

In Chicago, the police department dealt with a number of lawsuits from 1970 to 2000 that made the department hire more minority officers. Despite these lawsuits, the Chicago Police Department is still made up of mostly white officers. While half the department is white, the rest of the city has equal …show more content…

This term means that people are treated fairly, have a chance to be heard and are judged by a neutral system. The ultimate outcome matters far less than how the individual is treated. If they feel like they have received procedural justice and were dealt with fairly, then they believe that the system is free of bias.

The Media Impacts the Way That Police Are Perceived

When it comes to the public's perception of police officers, the media plays a major role. Individuals who hear frequent media reports of abuse or corruption in law enforcement are more likely to believe that misconduct is common. Likewise, African-Americans who live in high-crime neighborhoods are more likely to believe that misconduct is common if they hear about frequent cases of police misconduct. While personal interactions and the interactions with family or friends are more important, scandals reported in the news can have a strong impact on how the police are perceived by the community.

Does Racial Profiling Breed …show more content…

If a white man was seen leaving the scene of a murder, it seems logical to look for a white male who fits that physical description. Unfortunately, this technique can and is carried too far. Some law enforcement agencies have had to pay for expensive legal cases because of civil rights issues. In the areas where racial profiling is used, the police-citizen relationships are often strained. Once the community stops trusting law enforcement officials to be fair, the police lose the support of the community.

Ultimately, racial profiling tends to be ineffective over the long run. If criminals know that a certain ethnic group is the only group looked at for drug smuggling, they will begin to use different ethnic or racial groups to conduct their criminal enterprise. More importantly, racial profiling can end up leading to outright discrimination. While police are trained to avoid discrimination, they may still fall back on stereotypes to investigate a crime.

Techniques for Solving Trust Issues in Minority

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