Public Opinion of Police by Different Ethnic Groups Essay

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.

Gaines, L. K., & Kappeler, V. E. (2014). Policing in america (8th ed.). (S. Decker-Lucke, Ed.) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America: Anderson Publishing. Retrieved January 2017

Many black communities throughout the U.S. have a complete lack of trust in law enforcement due to the dangers of being profiled, and this lack of trust is mainly active in the poor black communities. Many of the individuals of black communities feel this type of distrust because when police are present in these communities, they are viewed as an “occupying force coming in from the outside to rule and control the community” (Washington). More times than not racial profiling has often led to police brutality, all the more reason why there is no trust between those that reside in black communities, and police officers.

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

As difficult as their job may be, and as big a toll as it may take on them emotionally, it is important to bear in mind that police officers are normal human beings with normal brains and mental processes. Consequently, they are prone to make the same stereotype-biased judgments the rest of us are. Because they are often operating under conditions of uncertainty, high discretion, and stress and threat, the pervasive stereotypes linking Blacks and Latinos with violence, crime, and even specifically weapons are likely to cause them to make misattributions in seeking to disambiguate the intentions and behaviors of citizens. This can lead to racially disparate rates of stops, searches, arrests, and use of force. Several interventions that aim to reduce bias or discriminatory behavior at the individual level warrant further investigation in the policing context. Nonnegative intergroup contact is especially promising given its strong evidence base and that it could be achieved through

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.

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).

Lee sigelamn,George Washington University,Susan Welch Pennsylvania state university, Timothy Bledsoe, Wayne State university, Michael Combs, University of Nebraska. “Police Brutality and public perceptions on racial Discrimination: A tale of two beatings”.

"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 Bias are a direct correlation to police violence against African Americans, stereotypes perpetuated by social constructions and media representation along with individual prejudice help by police officers view African Americans as a threat especially African American men. Police trust this ideology of “threat” to assist in their use of excessive force against African Americans to comply. (Tyler, 2011; Tyler et al., 2015, Skinner, Haas,2016).

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.

Police corruption has become an international problem. This was initially a common practice during the period when the police institutions were being developed but the effect has been felt by many people, even affecting peacekeeping operations. The police abuse and corruption has become endemic in the U.S making many citizens seek help from other organization. An example of such a case was experienced in the police training program in Afghanistan were the civilians were brutally abused forcing

Among the least researched area of this research is that of the effect of political affiliation on opinions of police officers. According to a Taiwanese study, however, “Though it varied somewhat by whether it was satisfaction with national or local police, the Taiwanese respondents who identified themselves as supporters of the opposition party, or politically neutral, showed lower levels of satisfaction with and trust in the police than supporters for the ruling party.” Political affiliation inherently does have an impact on perspectives about policing, particularly in the United States with the rise of incidences of police brutality and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement. It is for that reason, combined with the relatively unstudied

There would be an increase in trust for black citizens if police departments recruited more officers from minority groups. As a policy measure, recruitment is relatively easy to execute and to publicize shortly after execution. The presence of minority officers will enhance the image and legitimacy of police and possibly bring first-hand knowledge to the department on how to efficiently improve police interactions with minorities. However, the problem with this policy is that minorities may be reluctant to join the police force if its legitimacy among the group is low. And, additionally, minorities may be indifferent or unpleasant towards minorities who join the police force due to suspicious beliefs and the intentions of the reform.

Do the police trust the community? The communities most in need of police protection are also those in which many residents view police with most ambivalence, much of which stems from a recognition that color as a mark of suspicion relied upon as a predicate for action such as stopping, questioning, patting down, arresting, beating, and so forth. Obviously, selective policing always dissuade blacks from venturing into many communities. Exertion of police power for purposes of unethical conduct such as racial harassment is a social evil that the legal system should attempt to eradicate. Judicial trend has been known to pose great danger to society as it tends to turn police conduct that should be understood to legally and more wrong into conduct