The Ferguson Effect

Kirkwood police officers, who were white, would come into Meacham Park to “establish order” and often use racial profiling, surveillance and Stop and Frisk methods to target people of color and use unnecessary force when in contact with African American citizens (Boyles, 2015). It is evident that race and place can help understand citizen-police interactions because these police officers were not from Meacham Park, rather from Kirkwood which is a white affluent neighborhood. It seems that these officers targeted people of color under explicit bias that they are criminals regardless of the individual. When the use of force is used constantly, police-public tensions rise and undermines police legitimacy, which is something that can be improved when there is an increase in police accountability when interacting with people of color.

One major problem with the Justice System is that law enforcement use racial profiling affecting many people of color on a daily basis. Racial profiling is when law enforcement believe that certain groups are more likely to commit a crime rather than other groups. This is a major problem because in many cases there are very tragic incidents and as NAACP stated, “ Mr. Garner’s tragic death shows that for communities of color, including women and LGBT people of color, immigrants and low income communities, racial profiling has been and continues to be a constant reality of life, often with tragic and deadly consequences,” (45) Explains how racial profiling has become an everyday basis to minorities affecting them in many ways and unfortunately ends with death occasionally. Racial profiling is a huge dilemma

Our society shows how racism and police officers are a focal point within our country. In the United States, many police officers demonstrate racist qualities. Research states that many police officers are only patrolling around predominately African American neighborhoods. People agree that police officers are just sitting in areas where African Americans live instead of just sitting anywhere and waiting for any crimes. (Martin, Trayvon. Racial Profiling). Polices are just waiting for African Americans to make a mistake. Most Police Officers haven’t changed their ways on racism. “Diallo was gunned down by NYPD officers while trying to enter his apartment building. The officers had mistaken Diallo for a suspected rapist—who was also black’’ (Martin, Trayvon. Racial Profiling). NYPD killed an innocent man because he was African American and he looked like the guy they were looking for. Therefore, this just proves police officers have not changed their racist

policies that are currently in place to reduce tension between police officers and the minority groups that they serveLaw enforcement officers and the community have been disconnected. Violence and brutality of any kind, particularly at the hands of the police who here to protect and serve our communities. When Ferguson, Missouri exploded after the police shot an unarmed black teenager, the tension between the community and its protectors was laid bare. Ferguson is not the first and certainly not the last community forced to bridge that chasm. In South Carolina a policeman shot an unarmed black male who was stopped for a seat belt violation. The cop asked the male for ID, who then reached under his seat to retrieve his wallet, but was shot in the leg by the cop before he could take out his ID. When the body cam video was reviewed it shows that the trigger happy cop probably was in fear of his life, however it is also obvious that the cop shouldn’t have felt threaten as the behavior of the black male involved nothing unusual. Many would say if the driver was white the cop would have not reacted the way he did.

In a n article published in the Wall Street Journal, entitled “Racial Profiling Doesn’t Prove Cops are Racist”, Jackson Toby states that “a little perspective is in order

Racial profiling isn’t something new to today’s society. Most recently there were incidents in which the officers were accused of mistreating blacks such as Michael Brown and Freddie Gray. “Racism versus professionalism: claims and counter-claims about racial profiling” written by Vic Satzewich and William Shaffir discusses racism versus professionalism with officers. Their argument is more biased towards the police force and they argue that it’s part of their job. “

Over the past decade, police brutality has covered major headlines because officers have acted out in ways that have made citizens question their motives. Things such as unjustified shootings, deadly chokings, and rough treatment have all added to the constant problem of police brutality in the black community. Annoyingly, the police officers responsible for the killings and abuse are not held for long before they are discharged to their normal routines. Since many people believe that the issues of police brutality is based on race, officers should be held accountable for their misconduct. Accountability will permit officers to treat all with equality; therefore using the appropriate amount of force on everyone. Often cops are indicted in less than 1% of killings, but the indictment rate for citizens is 90% which is a major problem. If someone does wrong they should suffer the consequence no matter who they are. As a result of misconduct officers tend be mistrusted by their communities. Deaths in the black community often stems from police officers using excessive force such as assaults, beating and shootings.

Data and statistics also show that minorities are discriminated due to racial profiling. In the essay “The big question about why police pull over so many black drivers”, Kim Soffen provides statistics from other credible sources to show that the police excessively targets African Americans. “The Times analysis found that among the largest police department in each of those four states, black drivers were between 1.5 and 5.2 times more likely to have their cars searched than white drivers” (par. 9). Also, “A 2015 analysis by the Hartford Courant found that black and Hispanic drivers who were stopped were 11 to 41 percent more likely to be ticketed than white offenders, depending on the offense committed” (par. 11). The difference between African Americans and Hispanic to whites is huge because of racial profiling. It shows how much the police discriminates against the minority groups. The police show discrimination when they mostly target African Americans and Hispanics. Police think that minorities are the only people who can commit crimes, but whites are just as capable of committing crimes. Another essay that shows the misjudgment of African Americans is “The secret surveillance of ‘suspicious’ blacks in one of the nation’s poshest neighborhoods” by

In Jim Mittman’s report “Policing; Report shows Racial Profiling Continues, with no Changes,” Mittman surmises altogether that the Missouri Police Department has been stopping and searching more minorities than they do white citizens. Mittman reasons that these stops and arrests are unlawful knowing there is no law prohibiting the Missouri Police Dept. from pulling minorities over even when there’s no unmistakable evidence prior to wrong-doing. First and foremost, Mittman tackles the legal and political issues by explaining that the law does not actively address or prohibit racial profiling in the police force, as a result the law still segregates residents based on invisible lines, hence the elected officials prefer to focus on other issues.

MacDonald presents an adequate amount of knowledge by stating research found by “credible” foundations, but when evaluated closely, there is faulty reasoning within her arguments. Towards the middle of the article, two claims are brought out-- One, that police encounter “tens of thousands” of armed felons a year without using lethal force and that roughly “987 people” were fatally shot. Two: fifty percent of police shooting victims are white; in comparison to the twenty-six percent that are African- American. The author fails to properly cite her sources, which causes the reader to wonder where she pulled the information. Consequently, her credibility diminishes. In addition to the unknown sources, MacDonald seems to have committed a fallacy in her thinking process. In the very beginning of her article, she states that since the police have reframed from

However, some criminologist state that these statistics reveal very little about the cause of the increase in violent crime. On the other hand there are some people such as Heather MacDonald author of “Are Cops Racist?”, in the Wall Street Journal who believe that “the most plausible explanation of the current surge in lawlessness is the intense agitation against American police departments over the past nine months” (Jonsson, 2015). There is a lot of back and forth debate of whether or not The Ferguson Effect is “thing”. Of course by accepting the “Ferguson effect” as a new theory of policing on would have to admit that police officers are no longer doing their jobs out of fear of public scrutiny. What is certain is that there has been a

In Steve Chapman’s article “Are Blacks to Blame for Cops Actions?” the author addresses the most important controversial problem we had for centuries. Does racial profiling exists? If so, what is the problem with it? Many say that law enforcement are only targeting the minority, to be specific mainly African Americans. This is because they are the only ones to blame and that if they were not committing so much crime, they wouldn 't get so much attention from police(502). The author points out that blaming the black community for violent crime by blacks we fail to notice the truth of today’s real crime. I strongly believe with the author, we fail to notice the real crimes that are society has. Are we so distracted by what the media

There are a number of repercussions that need to be feared if the current witch hunt mentality continues to vilify this countries law enforcement agencies. It is time for rational minded individuals to stand up and be the voice of reason against politicians who would exploit this issue, the media that is happy to distort this issue, and so called activists who want to scream at the world because they are angry with the world. We must be careful that the police don’t lose their ability to police, or become fearful of doing their jobs because of the highly publicized slander. A possibility that FBI director James Comey has name the “Ferguson Effect A notion that he and many in law enforcement think is valid. However, President Obama has

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,

In addition to the pervious studies conducted in Canada, Discrimination or “Good” Good Policing? The Racial Profiling Debate In Canada. Canadian cities law enforcement officers in Toronto, Montréal and Halifax only seem to be targeting African American drivers, stopping and searching their car, and questioning them for simply driving while black. Researchers conducted a longitude study that started in the year 1995 and ended in 2000, recent issues relating to racial profiling in Toronto in the African American community have reached a boiling. Studies consistently show that African Americans are once again the main targets and overly looked at when it comes to suspicious activities, consistently searched to see if they are in possession