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 …show more content…
The second argument is, maybe police officers just know what they are looking for. For example, last semester I had to watch a video and a police officer said, “We aren’t racially profiling, we just know who is involved with who when you work in the same area for a long period of time.” There really is not explaining that statement. Now yes, there are some police officers that do racially profile people, but if a police officer works in a certain area for a length of time, he or she knows who and what to look for.
On the other hand, officers have to deal with getting complaints from the community as well. “One of the greatest sources of tension between police and minorities in the perceived failure of police departments to adequately to citizen complaints” (Walker et. al, 2012:170). Police have complaints filed against them all the time because of the high number might be a reason too, why not all of the complaints are adequately taken care of. I believe that the police department should have some bias against some complaints because some complaints can become a little outrageous. However, I also believe that if the person filing the complaint has enough evidence to prove what happened, really happened, then the process will move forward. Now, being a police officer’s wife, when a complaint is filed against my husband, for whatever reason, the
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
Historically there has been conflict between the american police force and members of minority groups. In recent years this conflict has moved into the eye of the public, through the media attention given to events like Ferguson. Outrage and unrest ensued and the backlash from these events were felt all over the US if not internationally. The result of these events lead to politicians and the police pledging reforms to improve the relations between law enforcement and members of minority groups. However many still believe that nothing has changed and that law enforcement is still more likely to use excessive force when dealing with members of those minority groups. Research has started to be conducted on this issue and many try to find solutions. This paper will provide a literary review of the current literature regarding this topic and will further provide some ways in which the relationship between law enforcement and the public can be improved.
On the other hand, some people would argue that you cannot judge all of the officers based on someone’s actions because that would be unfair to the whole system. They struggle and risk their life every day to protect our communities and not being given enough credit and appreciation for their
In America, crime is a huge topic. However, many don't realize that race plays a big role in crime as well, or they choose to ignore that fact. It's important to realize the injustices that take place in crime due to race, and how many laws would likely be changed if we were forced to realize that and make every race a priority.
Police brutality has become a frequent and sensitive debate for some time now. The encounters between the police and men of color have brought to light an underlying thought in the minds of many. Has racism been resolved or has it manifested itself in modern times? Hinton highlights the unfortunately clear divide in the way that people are policed. Personally, I believe racism cannot and will not disappear in the hearts of people, however, the system, especially the criminal justice and law enforcement systems, with which we all live under should not put African Americans in a state of internal nervousness out of not being sure if the color of their
Crime has always been a hot topic in sociology. There are many different reasons for people to commit criminal acts. There is no way to pinpoint the source of crime. I am going to show the relationship between race and crime. More specifically, I will be discussing the higher chances of minorities being involved in the criminal justice system than the majority population, discrimination, racial profiling and the environment criminals live in.
In this article, Robert, April, and Jorge (2010) acknowledges previous research reports on this topic and reveals that race, and racial patterns have found their way in involvement of crime. However, Robert, April, and Jorge (2010) argue that there is no significant proof that there are meaningful racial disparities in the legal systems. Although some literatures provide research on the existence of racial profiling by police, in imprisonment, and sentencing, other researchers report no significant racial disparities in the legal systems (Black and Reiss, 1970; Pilivian and Briar, 1964). However, other researchers report on ample racial disparities based on race. These researches are controversial because the size of the differences in such reports tends to bring up the question of meaningfulness of the differences observed (Wilbanks, 1987).
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.
Today Anthony, a 23-year-old man and an avid pot smoker, sold marijuana to David, 25. Anthony later would drive by many cops while in possession of marijuana, and not be stopped. David, on the other hand, was not so lucky. He was unnecessarily stop and frisked by a police officer for “suspicious behavior.” David was charged with possession of marijuana. He happened to be in a state that would have charged him with a felony for possession. He was strongly encouraged by his state appointed attorney that he should take a plea deal to avoid a harsher sentence. David would continue to be abused by the system upon his release. He was no longer allowed to vote, and had a hard time finding a job due to his felony charge. The only thing separating David and Anthony was their race. Anthony had the luck of being born a white-American. Anthony had the privilege to avoid an unnecessary stop and frisk from police. Even if he was caught and charged, he would likely be face with a light sentence. Anthony would likely be freed from prison in a shorter amount of time than David, and have an easier time finding a job.
A great deal of society views law enforcement officers as heroic and honorable individuals, whose main purpose is to protect and serve the community. For many officers, this description is accurate, however for others; violence and brutality against innocent citizens is part of getting the job done. For years, minorities have fallen victim to police brutality based on racial profiling, stereotypes and other
The brutality of the police force has been a long worldwide problem, but especially between the years of 2012-2016. Black people are being unjustly beaten and shot in plain sight for doing nothing while being unarmed. Journal of African American Studies “Blacks are viewed as deserving of harsh treatment in the criminal justice system” (482). “Black males with more “Afrocentric” features may receive longer sentences than blacks with less Afrocentric features like lighter skin and straighter hair”(482). Nowadays it is important to know about the police force. It’s important to know our rights as citizens and be careful around cops. Not everybody is good, but not everybody is bad also. In The New York Amsterdam News 21 people were killed by Chicago police in 2008. Entire families were being attacked. They believe it’s because of their skin color and how they are different. The year of racism started off with the world seeing the police murder of Oscar Grant. “The media have pushed people away from hearing the issue of police brutality, and it has fallen off of the radar screen.”(2) “You can’t give in. They will try to make an example out of you, try to break your spirit!”(2) African Americans say do not trust the cops with anything. “They will ruin you.”(2)
There is no question that police brutality, when it occurs, is one of the most egregious violations of public trust that a public servant can commit. Police officers, those individuals taxed with protecting the public from danger, should never be in a situation where they pose a threat to the public. Furthermore, there is no question that police brutality occurs. Moreover, generally when there are allegations of police brutality, there has been some type of underlying violent incident. In addition, while issues of brutality may seem clear-cut to a disinterested observer, it is critical to keep in mind that law enforcement officers are not presented with textbook examples of the appropriate or inappropriate use of force, but real-life scenarios involving quick decisions. There are many arrest and non-arrest scenarios where officers need to use force to protect self or others; and the degree of force required may be greater than what a disinterested observer would assume. Another recurrent issue in debates about police brutality is that racial bias appears to be a motive behind police brutality. When one considers that minorities are disproportionately likely to be arrested and convicted of crimes, one would expect to find a disproportionate number of minorities among those alleging police brutality. Therefore, while acknowledging that police brutality, when it occurs, is a serious problem, the reality is that most
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
The purpose of this paper is to first define intersectionality and how it is linked to issues such as class, race, gender and crime. Secondly, it will discuss why intersectionality is important to understand crime and justice. In order to understand the relationship between intersectionality and crime, a particular issue will be reviewed from the crime and delinquency issues of 2014. Out of the 52 articles, this paper will first look at the number of titles and abstracts that discuses race, class, gender or other social inequalities. Lastly, out of the 52 articles reviewed, five will be thoroughly examined and discussed that best address intersectionality and how these issues are link together.