Rising Crimes Against Asian Communities

Policing is a very difficult, complex and dynamic field of endeavor that is always evolves as hard lessons teach us what we need to know about what works and what don’t work. There are three different Era’s in America’s policing: The Political Era, The Reform Era, and The Community Problem Solving Era. A lot has changed in the way that policing works over the years in the United States.

In this age of the internet, we know hear even more and more of racism against Asian Americans still occurring. In Le C.N.’s blogs at www.asian-nation.org , he writes about what he reads in the newspapers or sees on the Television when an Asian American is the victim of violence that is occurring in school or even around

This paper provides an overview of the problems facing the police in their efforts to improve relations with minority communities in the United States, as well as a survey of previous research and existing literature on cultural diversity

Though Asians make up the largest portion of the world’s population, Asian-Americans are one of the least represented minority groups within the United States. Out of an estimated 318 million people living in the U.S., Asians account for 5.2%, or approximately 17 million people. Compared to Hispanics at 54 million and African-Americans at 42 million, Asians and/or Asian-Americans are vastly outnumbered by the two other major minority groups and even more so by the majority, European-Americans. Even though Asians are typically considered the “model minority”, they are faced with the same issues that plague many other minority groups within the U.S. today to include stereotypes, prejudice, discrimination and ethnocentrism. There has been a history of discriminatory national policies directed at the immigration of Asians to the U.S. and in times of duress, the labeling and targeted institutional discrimination of specific ethnicities of Asian-Americans as traitors based solely on country of origin and not on the deeds and actions of said U.S. citizens (Japanese internment camps of World War II).

Although many may find community policing and problem-oriented policing to fall in the same category, there is (surprisingly) a difference between the two. For one, community policing has many definitions. For some, it means instituting foot and bicycle patrols and doing acts pertaining to the ideal bond between police officers and their community. While for others it means maintaining order and cleaning up neighborhoods in desperate need of repair (Dunham & Alpert, 2005). However, an idyllic definition of community policing is altering the traditional definition of crime control to community problem-solving and promising to transform the way police do their job. Within the past two decades, there has been much research on community

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).

(Alexander C. , 2000) Outlined, pre the September 11 attacks on the world trade centre Asians were“ law abiding peaceful citizens” , however since the attacks on the world trade centre police have paid more attention to Asian communities, in particular Asian young males, indirectly identifying Asians as the new problem group. The Youth justice Board report (2004) outlined 30% of young Asian males compared to 19% black males were given a pre court disposal and 77% of Asian young females had received a pre- court disposal compared to young black females.

In light of recent events that have caused rifts in relations between local law enforcement and communities have caused problems that needs to be addressed. To address this issue, the NYPD issued an executive order to establish a new unit called COP- Community Oriented Policing. The NYPD currently has Community Affairs division Bureau established to foster a positive police-community relations. However, it lacks the structure, staff and functions needed to work with community leaders and others to improve the community and relationship. The COP unit under the NYPD section is needed to create a viable community policing as well as working together for crime reduction in communities.

Supreme Court, the application of such laws could have detrimental consequences in those states that have significant amount of minority communities. The essence of modern policing is the building of mutual relationships among law enforcement officers and community members, also known as community policing. The goal is to maintain those relationships so that the community can provide more accurate information to the law enforcement agency about what is going within the community and thus the community becomes the eyes and ears of the law enforcement agency. In return, the law enforcement agency is able to address the community’ problems more effectively, which would help increase the quality of life of many community members and also decrease the levels of crime, which is the main goal of the law enforcement

Community policing fits in with community justice in several ways, for one it has the potential over time to rebuild trust between the two groups which is an essential to both public and police safety. Secondly, it allows for people who reside in their communities a voice, encourages more social interaction and brings about more collaborative means in solving issues that the particular community faces (Giacomazzi, 1995). It also has the potential to rebuild communities, as of now most of the comminutes most affected by policing are the disadvantaged, lower economical and African Americans (Clear, 2007). These communities are being devastated by the constant revolving door of the

Community policing complements the traditional policing as an initiative to enhance community partnerships to reduce crime and the fear of crime. The philosophy of community policing is reliant on encouraging healthy relationships between officers and their community to get to the root of crime instead of treating the symptoms as founded in traditional policing methods. Traditional policing methods are based more on rapid response, patrol, and investigation procedures, but these processes are lacking in dealing with the underlying issues affecting communities (Ortmeier & Meese, 2010, p. 227).

Community policing is the most commonly adopted police operational strategy in the world today (Wisler and Onwudiwe, 2009) Would it be realistic to think that one officer could really change a community? Community policing is an operation that involves the unity of citizens and both public and private organizations working together cooperatively to identify and resolve issues that have a mass effect on the safety of a specific area, neighborhood or city as a whole. Effective community policing occurs when the various committees are set up at local level and implement their own programs to prevent crime (Sutton & Fisher, 1989) It is recognized by community based police departments that police cannot effectively handle all issues alone and must partner with others who have the same responsibility for resolving problems. Prevention, early identification, and timely intervention to address problems before they become worse are important factors of community policing. Individuals of communities want to feel that the police department is in touch with their needs, concerns and values as well as a sense of security in the neighborhood. Once the community and police department begin to develop a working relationship, both parties engage in the process of goal sharing, resulting in a congruent relationship (Trojanowicz & Dixon, 1974) Community policing has many positive effects that aggressive policing can have on the relationship between the community and police departments.

From police officers to citizens many have asked when is enough, enough and what can be done to bridge the gap between both? Due to the events that have taken place over the years the only way to help stop the violence and bridge the gap is through “Efforts that improve relations between the public and the police in which have been found to be the most successful when the two have joined together in common causes. When the policemen who patrol, a neighborhood meet with its residents to discuss crime problems in the area and jointly develop solutions to them, as this allows a fundamental exchange of understanding” (Hans and Douglas, 2005). With recognizing the issues taken place, police departments nationwide have implemented community policing within their department that is based on the philosophy like the one stated in Management and Supervision in Law Enforcement which states, “Organizations strategies, which supports the systematic use of partnerships and problem-solving techniques to proactively address the immediate conditions that give rise to public safety issues, such as crime, social disorder and fear of crime.” (Hess, Orthmann, Ladue pg. 16). Community policing strengthens the idea that the police and people of the community should be partners, not opponents. Other ways police and communities can

Local law enforcement are an enormous staple of any community. Police departments are usually highly involved with many of the events that a community organizes such as school D.A.R.E programs, fund raisers, or even sporting events. Building a healthy relationship with the community is extremely important. However, when the community begins to notice a change with some of the practices of the police department, most notably targeting specific races in the community for stops, searches, arrest, etc., then tensions can rise. Police operate at the maximum potential when the community they serve is compliant. However, compliance between the two slowly fades when a rift is formed where trust formerly existed. Whereas once parents would tell their children to be respectful towards police, instead they would shape them to be mistrustful of them. One such victim, by the name of Corliss Davies, had the following to say regarding her unfortunate experiences with her local police. “In our life, we see a bunch of stuff go down — people getting beat up by police for no reason, and there ain’t nothing we can do. Who do you report the police to?” (Olorunnipa, 2014) Statistics even show that about 60% of White Americans have trust in the police, whereas only 37% of African Americans have trust in law enforcement. (Olorunnipa, 2014)

Police cruelty in communities filled up with people of different colors have been one of the top subjects in global news over the years. Many articles have come up to this matter, particularly how the police use their ability to discipline people among such communities. Most of the people that live in these communities are identified as African-American, Asian, and Latino. Racism, Unjust harassment, and transparency/bias are some of the topics to be addressed by police as they exercise their authority on communities of different colors.