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
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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
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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
Chicago has had its share of police corruption and scandals throughout the city’s history. Officials always vowing that corruption will never happen. One of the corruption cases that caught my attention was about Joseph Miedzianowski. According to NewOne, Joseph Miedzianowski is ranked number 4 as the most corrupt cop in the U.S. of all time. Joseph Miedzianowski was a Chicago police officer for 22 years. He served as a police officer and a drug kingpin shaking down drug dealers. He also ran Chicago’s gang unit and his own gang dealing drugs (NewsOne. 2011).
Just this April, the city’s Police Accountability Task Force found that the Chicago Police Department has “no regard for the sanctity of life when it comes to people of color.” Chicago’s population is 31.7% white, 32.9% Black, 28.9% Latino, and 5.5% Asian. However, the Task Force reported that the city’s police officers shoot Black residents at significantly disproportionate rates. Between 2008 and 2015, of all people injured or killed in police-related shootings, 74% were Black, 14% were Hispanic, 8% were white and less than 1% were Asian. The report found almost identical numbers when it came to statistics regarding the use of Tasers. The report also analyzed all people stopped by police during the summer of 2014 and found they were 72% Black,
Law enforcement and minorities have long been the focus of the criminal justice injustice within the United States. African Americans, Arab Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans, Hispanic and Latino Americans are a number of communities in the United States along with Caucasian or non-minorities as a whole, which make up a large portion of the United States. Racial discrimination has been a large factor the criminal justice system has been plagued with for many years. In the book Just Mercy, authored by Bryan Stevenson, Stevenson details his life’s work to help those who were wrongfully convicted and biased towards in sentencing. A big part of the book is related to racial discrimination among officers. Analytically I will be looking at the question of whether the relations between the police and minority and non-minority communities differ. I will look at number of factors related to traffic enforcement practices, use of force and arrest of minorities and non-minorities in determining if there is any differences among police community relations.
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
Recently, there has been much in the media about clashes between African Americans and the police. Two such cases, being the shootings of Michael Brown and Laquan McDonald - both incidents resulting in public outrage. These cases result in questions about racial profiling by police. Through research, it is clear that African Americans are the target of racial bias by many police departments in the United States; in order to remedy this situation, law enforcement agencies need to (and are beginning to) undergo scrutiny on their interactions with the public and, additionally must receive training on diversity.
Racial profiling in law enforcement is not merely wrong, but also ineffective. Race-based assumptions in law enforcement perpetuate negative racial stereotypes that are harmful to our rich and diverse democracy, and materially impair our efforts to maintain a fair and just society. Retrieved November 15 2015 www.usdoj.gov
Many people in the minority community believe that white police officers are far more responsible for abusive conduct toward minorities than any other group(2). The authors of Beyond the Rodney King Story conclude that “ Police abuse in America largely consists of white officers abusing minority citizens. Rickie Clark of the National
"Relations between the police and minority groups are a continuing problem in many multiracial societies. Surveys consistently document racial differences in perceptions of the police, with minorities more likely than whites to harbor negative views." (Weitzer and Tuch, Race and Perceptions of Police Misconduct, 2004)
Racial profiling has been an unethical issue in law enforcement for many years in the United States. Many individuals still seem to have unequal rights because of their race. Police officers overuse their force among people also. Law enforcement officers, many times, judge individuals by their racial profile to justify if they have committed a crime or not. Officers often jump to conclusions because of race and accuse people without evidence; which is not the only issue. Another issue has been brutality among innocent individuals. American citizens are facing unfair treatment because racial profiling is being used as a means of law enforcement.
Some people believe that racial profiling is not the only tactic used by law enforcement to control crime. Zachary Hammond, a white teenager was shot twice by a police officer. The first in the shoulder and the second to the chest which was fatal. This developed when an officer who was part of a string operation believed he was part of a “possible drug deal” while the teenager was going through the drive-through at Hardee’s. The officer blocked Hammond using his patrol car. Zachary Hammond then drove his car towards the officer causing the officer to feel threatened and shoot him (Hauser). Racial Profiling was not used in this case and the end result was the death of a white, unarmed teenager.
A major issue that has been at the forefront of the topic of race in America is racial profiling. This practice of targeting individuals based on the individual’s race is not new and has been in use for many many years. However it has recently come to national attention with the killing of unarmed black teenagers by police officers. The issue of racial profiling not only highlights the lack of equality in America but the issue of policemen using excessive force when dealing with criminal activity.
Curiously, when comparing those views with the views on how police deal with minorities in a survey shortly after the Ferguson shooting when about three fourths of blacks said the incident brought up important issues about race. When only about one third of whites thought the same. In yet another poll in which blacks told of less trust than whites in local police to treat both races equally. A majority of whites expressed a great deal or fair amount of trust in local police to treat blacks and whites
If the rule of "might is right" prevails, no procedural fairness exists, the law and legal authorities lose their legitimacy and the prevention of crime through punishment will be no more effective therefore the procedural fairness (also termed as procedural justice) is a tool to make the Criminal Justice System successful. The procedural fairness/ Procedural Justice is key factor to establish the legitimacy of the legal authorities and prosecution service plays its role not only for the provision of justice by getting the wrongdoers punished but it also ensures the procedural fairness in the whole process of administration of criminal justice starting from the investigation till the final outcome the case. The prosecution supervise the investigation process and ensures the compliance of the prescribed rules and principles
Benjamin Todd Jealous once said, “Racial profiling punishes innocent individuals for the past actions of those who look and sound like them. It misdirects crucial resources and undercuts the trust needed between law enforcement and the communities they serve.”(Jealous, 2015). I couldn’t agree more with him. In today’s society more and more Black men and women suffer from police bias. Police is a powerful organization that was meant to serve and protect. Enforce laws and keeping communities safe. The problem is we fail to acknowledge that police are humans with real life bias. The problem with police is how much racial profiling is going up,
Martin Luther King Jr., an American Baptist minister, African-American civil rights activist, and non-violent protest leader, once said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” (Ali-Dinar 1963 p.1). Such an iconic and fearless leader recognized the unjust behavior within society as a result of racially motivated police brutality and societal discrimination. Though his efforts were not in vain, today’s media representation of law enforcement impacts the societal cultivation of police officers in a negative way. Media outlets, in the forms of television, radio, or social websites, create a cynical view of police officers, which influences societal beliefs and creates negative connotations.