Project Implicit Racial Bias

In recent years and in light of recent tragedies, police actions, specifically police brutality, has come into view of a large, public and rather critical eye. The power to take life rests in the final stage of the criminal justice system. However, the controversy lies where due process does not. While the use of deadly force is defined and limited by departmental policies, it remains an act guided chiefly by the judgment of individual officers in pressure situations. (Goldkamp 1976, 169). Many current studies have emphasized the racial disparities in minority deaths, primarily black Americans, killed by police through means of deadly force. The history of occurrences reveals the forlorn truth that police reforms only receive attention in wake of highly publicized episodes of police misconduct. The notorious 1992 Los Angeles riots brought the matter to mass public attention and prompted improved law enforcement policy. Significant local reforms resulted, for instance, ending the policy of lifetime terms for police chiefs. Additionally, on a broader platform, in 1994, Congress approved provisions to the Crime Control Act in effort to tackle police abuse in a more structured way.

It was with some trepidation that I awaited my score for the Presidential Implicit Association Test (IAT). Was it possible that I am subconsciously racist? Despite the fact that I genuinely don’t look at Barack Obama any differently because he is black; the nature of this test forces your mind and body to work so quickly in synch that it forces a high level of veracity. Luckily in both of my IAT results my subconscious did not betray me, but it did require a certain amount of concentration at times, which might make a statement in and of itself.

Many statistics show the way police brutality has changed over the years. Police claim that brutality has risen 35% since September 11th 2001. Statistics show the in 1982, out of twelve thousand randomly selected citizens 13% had been victims of police brutality. Approximately 422 people that were sixteen years old or older claimed to have had contact with police in which force or threat was used on either side in 1999. In the years 2002 and 2003, 90% of the citizens shot by police were either African American or of Hispanic background(“Law”). The number of police officers killed by brutality from citizens jumped up 13% from 2010 to 2011(Bond).

Research centers for the study of racial bias have developed experimental studies to help understand how race can, for instance, influence a police officer to shoot an unarmed suspect. The Implicit Association Test (IAT) is one of the most commonly used tests for this study. IAT was developed by three scientists, Tony Greenwald (University of Washington), Mahzarin Banaji (Harvard University), and Brian Nosek (University of Virginia) (“ProjectImplicit”). Their “Project Implicit” program was designed to identify our societal biases through the association of faces (black and white) with words (good and bad). This program uses a scoring algorithm that can identify those who are faking the test with approximately 75% accuracy (Cvencek et al.).

In 2015, police brutality peaked to an all time high, with over 100 of the 776 people killed blacks. Yet only 10 out of the 102 killing of unarmed blacks resolved in the conviction of the officers . For example, the death of Freddy Gray was unnecessary and occurred because a white

In America, police brutality is on the rise. 1297 Americans in 2014, 1307 in 2015, and 506 this year have died due to police brutality (Police Brutality Statistics). African American individuals are three times more likely to be killed in comparison to a white individual (Mapping Police Violence) . This issue has targeted black individuals because of their race. It has reached a point where many cops are not charged or convicted for their violence towards black individuals.

Being a minority in the United States has never been easy and does not seem to be getting any better. Minorities have been exposed to violence by law enforcement for many decades. Law enforcement 's are tasked with protecting and serving its citizens, not to harass and assault them. Police brutality is a continuous problem in the United States and officers need to be accountable for their actions. This research project will examine how police brutality often leads to death because of some officers ' unnecessary physical aggression and poor judgment, some incidents leads to unjust shootings, and finally, the misconduct of police officers. By understanding how police brutality is increasing and the violence that comes with it, police officers can then receive better training and learn how to gauge certain situations to avoid use of violence and abuse their power.

Recent Surveys have shown that police brutality typically occurs in areas that are predominately African American and that have police departments that are composed of non-minority Officer. For Example in Ferguson Missouri there is a population of approximately blank. Minorities account for only about 5.6% of the population. White American citizens only made up blank percent. The demographics of Ferguson’s Police Department show that white Officer outnumbered African American officers 51 to 3.

Police brutality is still very much a problem in the United States, in 2015 alone there have been numerous uprisings, riots, and protests, many of which result in more violence. In 2002 alone, there were 26,556 citizen complaints about police use

Over the past few years police brutality and the use of deadly force on their part has risen very rapidly. It has always been around but the death of Michael Brown back in August of 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri was one of the very first cases that started the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States. Here in the U.S. the use of deadly force by a sworn police officer is only lawful when the officer has reason to believe that the subject he/she is pursuing poses a threat of serious bodily injury or death to themselves or others. The New York times posted an analysis of F.B.I. data from 2010-2012 concluded that the police killed African American men ages 15 to 19 at a rate 21 times greater than the statistic for white men the same age. The department of Justice Numbers indicates that a black man or woman is about four times more likely to die in custody or while being arrested than a white person.

For this assignment, I chose the Race Bias Implicit Association Test. I was surprised because I have taken this same assessment for another class years ago and my results changed. The first time I took the test, I received a result that did show a slightly biased preference for European American’s over African Americans. However, this time, I took my time to read and select the answer that I thought was best. However, this time around, the data suggested no automatic preference between African Americans and European Americans. I was honestly shocked at these results after conditioning myself to believe that slight implicit bias was normal after reading my results on my first attempt a few semesters back. The first time I took this test, I was devastated by the thought of even the slightest bit of bias as I’ve always been a bit of a social justice warrior when it comes to race issues. Initially I attributed the results to poorly worded questions and then attempted to rationalize by

Did you know this year alone, 323 Americans were killed by police and the number is still currently growing, according to CopCrisis. com? In fact, most of these killings were from police brutality. The term “police brutality” was introduced as early as 1872, when Chicago Tribune reported om the beating of a civilian under arrest at the Harrison Street Police Station. However, Police brutality has been a serious issue for African Americans ever since slavery ended. This brutality started to rise rapidly in the 1960s. From the Civil Rights era of hoses, tear gas and dogs, to the iconic recording of Rodney King, an African-American taxi driver who was internationally known after being beaten by Los Angeles Police Department officers following a

Over the years, police brutality has increased. According to statistics, "at least "865 Americans have been killed by police so far in 2015. As of that same date in 2014, 804 people were killed by police."

Police brutality against the black community has been an issue arising from slavery and other racial discriminations in the past (Tharoor). Some of the previous incidents of police brutality include the 1877 Great Railroad, the 1894 Pullman, and the 1919 Steel strikes, among others. Furthermore, according to statistics, this situation has grown to become a human rights crisis. For example, in 2015 alone, close to 1000 people were shot and killed by the police, with more than a quarter of this number (258) representing black lives, whereas in 2016, 173 black Americans have so far succumbed to violent actions by the police (Williams). Additionally, what makes this situation worse is that some cases of police brutality go unreported

No matter who you are or what part of the world you are from implicit bias are a constant issue in society. These tendencies typically stem from structural injustice, implicit bias, and personal discretion. Structural injustice is when a category of people are associated with an insufficient status when comparing to other groups of people engaging in the same actions. Implicit bias are stances and stereotypes that affect our comprehension, actions and decisions held by our unconscious manner. These bias are involuntarily and are done without individuals awareness or intentional control. Everyone is exposed to these biases at a young age through the media, parents, and teachers. Each individual holds possession of implicit bias whether they