Category: Police

Why Is Police Brutality a Social Problem: Research Essay

Police brutality has been an ongoing issue for a significant amount of time now. It is constantly being reported by the media for events such as racism and social violations. Law enforcers are committing violent acts against those who are innocent and need their protection. This is an act of abusing their rights and freedom violation. It does not stop here, for many years, police have also been reported to mistreat their suspects and force them to make a false confession. Statistically speaking, the number of police killings of civilians has increased over the last five years peaking in 2015 at 1,187 followed closely by 2018 with a figure of 1,164. This is just another example of how there is little to nothing being done about the crisis at hand. In that same time period between 2014 and 2018, 4,962 were killed by gunshots. The common misconception about police brutality is that it is only the African American population who is falling victim to this injustice but statistics say otherwise. It is, in fact, Native Americans who make up the majority of the statistics with African Americans following closely behind them. Moreover, to further put these statistics into perspective, African-Americans account for approximately 12.5% of the overall U.S. population while accounting for more than 22% of those killed by police. Whites make up two-thirds of the American population and account for less than half of those killed by police, note, African Americans do not have the highest police-killing rate among all ethnic groups and this is because Native Americans are scarce and that is why their figure is so much higher. Furthermore, the most alarming part of this topic and the data provided is the fact that it is based on police officers, but it does not include other forms of violence committed by other parties such as vigilantes, security guards, and neighbors. There is so much injustice in the system because the rate at which officers are charged with crimes has fallen by 90% and the charge-to-conviction rate has almost vanished completely.

Additionally, it is very evident that police brutality has been an ongoing social issue for many years. Incidents go all the way back to Rodney King’s case on March 3rd, 1991. King was caught by L.A.P.D officers after a high-speed chase where they proceeded to pull him out of his car and beat him on camera. The officers involved were indicted on charges of assault, however, after a three-month trial, a predominantly white jury acquitted the officers. Another notable example is Eric Garners’ case. He was killed by N.Y.P.D officers after being confronted and placed in a chokehold as a result of suspicion. He was thought to be selling untaxed cigarettes on one of the streets in New York. While in the chokehold position, he repeatedly said “I can’t breathe” Throughout, Garner did not show any resistance but was still forced down to the ground where he met his untimely death by suffocation as multiple officers were on top of him in an attempt to keep him down. Daniel Pantaleo, the officer who was primarily responsible for Garner’s death was suspended without pay for one month. Before the suspension, he was earning an annual salary of $85,000. A grand jury found “no reasonable cause” to indict him on criminal charges and regardless of Garners’ tragic death, a U.S. Attorney said the evidence “does not establish beyond a reasonable doubt that Officer Panteleo acted in a willful violation of federal law.” In contrast, in the uncommon case where the police officers are convicted, it never comes easy. To even stand a chance, the victim has to have a very strong case against the officer for the jury to believe them over an officer and the reality is that in almost all cases an officer is believed over a civilian in terms of credibility. Even when an officer is charged, they’re rarely convicted so to argue that there is fairness in the conviction is futile. For those who think it’s not a real issue and not race-based, there was an incident in 2016 where a police officer was caught on camera pulling over a woman. The woman can be heard in a state of panic after being told to reach down and get her phone. She says “I’ve just seen way too many videos of cops -” “But you’re not black,” the officer interrupted in an attempt to console the woman. “Remember, we only kill black people.” Not to anyone’s surprise, the police officer suffered no convictions but instead was made to retire. No disciplinary action could take place since he was longer employed and thus entitled to his retirement.

Police brutality is not only in the streets; it is even behind bars as earlier discussed. Possibly one of the most well-known cases is that of Sandra Bland, a story that’s not unfamiliar to most which started outside in the streets. One of the oldest and most pathetic excuses police officers use after committing those kinds of acts is that they ‘feared for their lives’ in the case of Sandra Bland. Encinia had absolutely nothing to be afraid of as he approached her car and shortly arrested her. Throughout the whole first half of the investigation, the only form of conviction made against Mr. Encinia was perjury because he was dishonest about what really happened on the day of the arrest. It didn’t end there, three days later, Sandra Bland was found dead in her jail cell having hanged herself. At least that’s what the authorities said, but that topic is still up for debate. Encinia was indicted for perjury but the charges were dropped at the price that he would never work in the law enforcement field. Although some police officers are convicted, more often than not, those charges are dropped. The unfortunate reality of the situation is that police brutalities have become normalized with less and less being done about them. All things considered, one would ask themselves why police brutalities occur in the first place. What are the reasons for the increase in the frequency of police brutality incidents? The obvious answer would be fear, but there is so much more to it. A common trend that can be seen throughout all police brutality cases is the fact that consequences for misconduct are minimal. Police officers can get away with almost anything without any major consequences. Secondly, minorities — the African American population, are unfairly targeted. The impact on American society is far greater than someone would think, it has gone as far as causing mental health issues among the black community. A black Detroit-based reporter spoke about his PTSD and mentioned the intensity of the emotions he feels when he sees police car lights flashing behind him. It is the sad reality of a great number of people who have had similar experiences as him and to think it is all from being afraid of the same people who are supposed to make you feel safe is disheartening. All things considered, it is more than clear that police brutality is a very serious problem in American society. People could begin to record their encounters with police in case something doe happens. Although far from the actual solution, they can be very resourceful. This issue that America is facing doesn’t seem to be getting the real attention that it should. People are gunned down too often and something has to change before it’s too late and the process continues to repeat itself for generations.

Is Police Brutality a Social Issue: Critical Essay

Police brutality has been around in America since the first police force in the 1800s, but received nationwide attention in 1991 with the brutal beating of Rodney King in Los Angeles (Davis 276). The desensitization Americans have to police brutality and the decriminalization of the systemic murder of African Americans is indicative of the larger culture surrounding policing in the United States. Through militaristic propaganda, the Blue Lives Matter movement has redirected the conversation away from the brutal killings of African Americans and thus has allowed these murders to continue in silence with no repercussions for the offenders (SOURCE).

The need to study police brutality is imperative in order to prevent more lives from being lost. The power of the police is corrupt and unchecked, and, while using that power, has allowed police officers to commit murder against mostly African American men without consequence. Currently, police brutality–particularly, but not exclusively, against minorities–is de facto decriminalized in the United States and has been so since the murder of Rodney King (Davis 275).

There have been many attempts to explain why this corruption occurs, with the most common explanation being the “bad apple” defense (Chaney 481). This excuse is most commonly used by police and states that most cops are good, but there are some bad officers mixed into the bunch. The “bad apple” defense removes policing culture from the conversation and puts the blame on a singular officer instead of asserting that corruption is part of the function of policing. Breaking the “Blue Wall of Silence” is imperative to remove so proper policy measures can be put into place to reduce the occurrence of police brutality

Literature Review

Introduction

Every serious prescription for controlling police brutality rests at least implicitly on some theory of police behavior. The exercise of officers’ authority to make arrests has been analyzed in a number of studies, as has the use of deadly force, and a substantial (but still inadequate) body of empirical evidence has been accumulated. Unfortunately, little social scientific evidence has accumulated on the use and abuse of nonlethal force, and a faint effort seems to have been made to consider whether the theories applied to other forms of behavior apply to the use of nonlethal force.

Literature Review

Past research on police brutality has applied sociological and psychological theories to the empirical analysis of arrest and deadly force (Worden 23). One prominent sociological approach to understanding the behavior of police officers is based on the premise that police behavior is influenced by the social dynamics of police-citizen encounters. For example, Donald Black’s sociological theory of law holds that the “quantity of law is influenced by the social attributes of concerned parties–victims and suspects, or plaintiffs and defendants, as well as the agents of social control themselves (Worden 24). The role of the police is best understood as a mechanism for the distribution of non-negotiable coercive force employed in accordance with the dictates of an intuitive grasp of situational exigencies (Worden 24).

This sociological theory supports the belief that minorities are more likely to be shot at by police, and the empirical evidence confirms that minorities are overrepresented among the human targets at which police shoot, relative to their numbers in city populations, but it also indicates that minorities are overrepresented among those whose actions precipitate the use of deadly force. However, the hypothesis that minorities are more likely to be the objects of police deadly force merely because of their race has received support in only a few analyses (Worden 25).

Psychological theories have also been applied in order to understand what kind of police personality seems to cause more violence. This approach highlights variation among officers in their behavioral predisposition, a variation that is obscured by the sociological approach. This perspective directs attention to the outlooks and personality traits that presumably produce different responses to similar situations by different officers. One hypothesis states that officers who are predisposed to use force have “authoritarian” personalities (Worden 26)

The first large-scale observational study of police was undertaken by Black and Weiss in 1967, where they note that almost all victims of force were “young, lower-class males from any racial or ethnic group. Furthermore, most encounters were devoid of witnesses who would support the offender,” (Worden 34).

Research Question

Worden looks to analyze the frequency and severity of two categories of behavior by police: the use of reasonable force, and the use of improper (unnecessary or excessive) force.

Sample and Methods

Most empirical research on the use of nonlethal force by police is based on data collected through the observation of officers on patrol (Worden 32). In his research, Worden recognizes the shortcomings of observational data. They may be biased as a result of “reactivity” when officers refrain from the use of force in some instances due to the presence of observers (33). Worden looks at data not only from the Weiss-Black study but from the PSS as well in order to draw conclusions on police behavior in America.

Analysis and Findings

Bivariate analyses of PSS data indicate that the use of improper force is somewhat more likely if “the citizen is black, male, and over eighteen if the citizen exhibits signs of drunkenness or mental disorder if the citizen has a weapon, and if the citizen is hostile or antagonistic,” (Worden 37) The results of a multinomial logit analysis showed that multiple variables have statistically significant effects on the use of both reasonable and improper force. Whether reasonable or improper, force is more likely in “incidents that involve violent crimes and against suspects who are male, black, drunk, antagonistic, or physically restrained to the police,” (Worden 37).

Conclusion

The analysis of Black-Reiss data and the PSS data show that physical force is infrequently used by the police and that improper force is rare in the sense that it is infrequent relative to the large volume of interactions between police and citizens (Worden 46). However, the infrequency of these events does not diminish their significance of means that efforts cannot be undertaken to reduce the frequency even further.

Additionally, the use and abuse of force by police are influenced by the characteristics of the situations in which officers and citizens interact. Officers are more likely to use force–and especially improper force–against suspects who are inebriated or antagonistic, and even more concerning, they are more likely to use improper force against black suspects. The reasoning for improper force against African American citizens has varied. Perhaps it’s just simply that the behavioral manifestation of being hostile towards police is more prevalent in African Americans. One chief of police stated that he thought some of his officers were especially fearful of black suspects; the unstated implication is that those officers might use force preemptively (and necessarily) or act (unwittingly) in such a way that provokes resistance to which they must respond with force (Worden 46).

In popular media, the reporting of individual cases of police brutality (usually caught on video) results in more attention and sensationalism. In a Washington Post article, Wesley Lowery writes about thirty-two-year-old Edward Minguela, who was standing on the sidewalk with his hands in the air when three Camden County, N.J., police officers slammed him to the ground, punched him a dozen times, and pinned him to the ground on February 22, 2018. The entire incident was captured by a surveillance camera, but this story lacked the outrage seen with Michael Brown and Eric Garner–two black men were killed by police which sparked nationwide protests. Lowery offers an explanation of why police brutality has fallen from news coverage in recent years. Written in March of 2018, Lowery explains that police brutality and criminal justice reform were arguably the leading domestic news storyline during the final two years of the Obama administration, but the issue has all but vanished from the national political conversation. It’s not because police violence has stopped or been reduced–at the time of publication, 212 people have been shot and killed by American police officers, at the same pace of three fatal shootings per day since 2015. It’s also not because reporters have abandoned police accountability, as multiple acclaimed newspapers have launched investigations, including the Los Angeles Times and the Miami Herald. Additionally, several Washington Post reporters spent 2017 investigating what happens to the “bad apple” police officers after they are fired. They often end up right back on the job.

So why has police brutality left the news stories despite it still continuing? Lowery offers several explanations, the most obvious being the election of Donald Trump, a reality television host elected under accusations of Russian interference–whose White House is plagued by scandals, constant turnover, policy reversals, leaks, and staff infighting. According to Devon Jacob, the civil rights attorney representing Minguela, “The nation has a short attention span, and frankly, is interested in what the major networks tell the nation it should be interested in.” Unlike President Obama, Trump isn’t interested in police reform. He encouraged officers to rough up “thugs” they take into custody, and told an audience of officers in 2017, “Don’t be too nice” Additionally, Trump has also faced no questioning on issues of race and policing, even after Texas police shot and killed fifteen-year-old Jordan Edwards or when an Arizona officer killed unarmed Daniel Shaver, despite Obama being constantly asked to weigh in on issues regarding police violence against African Americans.

This silence is not just caused by a lack of emphasis by news channels. In an opinion post in the New York Times by The Editorial Board in June of 2019, they explain Section 50-a of the New York State Civil Rights Law passed in 1976. This keeps the personnel and disciplinary files of the police, firefighters, and corrections officers a secret unless a judge orders them released. The main sponsor of the law, Frank Padavan, said that it was never meant to prevent the disclosure of police misconduct. However, its main function today is blocking the release of crucial information about law enforcement officials who abuse the public trust. There have been efforts to repeal it, but police and corrections unions argue that the law is a matter of safety, as they protect officers from retaliation. However, this is just another institutional mechanic in place to keep police brutality in the shadows.

Section 50-a protected Officer Daniel Pantaleo, who used an illegal chokehold on Eric Garner for five years that killed him. An administrative judge ruling on whether Pantaleo should be fired in June 2019 cannot publicly state her decision due Section 50-a. The only reason the circumstances of Eric Garner’s death are widely known is that someone with a cellphone recorded a video of police taking him down in an illegal chokehold. The officer’s previous disciplinary record–four allegations of abuse against him–is only known because someone leaked the files.

In the past, research has approached this police brutality through a psychological and sociological lens. The focus of research has been on why police choose to commit misconduct and who they brutalized while on the job. Worden in particular has looked at observational data collected by Weiss and the PSS in order to synthesize it together and create a deeper understanding of when and why police brutality occurs. However, this research has led to relatively few solutions, as seen in the Washington Post and the New York Times. The lack of improvements on limiting police brutality leads to a stalemate, where other more “interesting” topics compete with primetime news. Where the Washington Post focuses more on how the political climate has shifted away from police brutality and criminal justice reform, The New York Times offers one take–Section 50-a–on why the culture surrounding officer misconduct is shrouded in secrecy. Instead of offering theories, Worden analyses data from multiple sources to establish the frequency and reasoning for excessive and improper force by police officers.

Sociological Imagination

The concept of the “sociological imagination” was coined by sociologist C. Wright Mills in order to describe the act of looking beyond the personal troubles of individuals and see the public issues of social structure, or the forces shifting and intersecting the larger society and their impacts on individual members of society. In his own words, Mills states that the “sociological imagination enables its possessor to understand the larger historical scene in terms of its meaning for the inner life and the external career of a variety of individuals,” (Mills 3). The premise of the sociological imagination is that understanding the awareness of the relationship between the individual and society allows us to look at a situation from another point of view. Applying the sociological imagination to cases and situations makes it clear what issues and behaviors need to be remedied in order to prevent the behavior, or to encourage that behavior in order to change the status quo.

In Lisa McIntyre’s article “Hernando Washington,” she uses the sociological imagination to understand Washington’s behavior, instead of just labeling him as deviant. Washington’s social milieu was the South Side of Chicago, where they are ostracized from the rest of society and abandoned by their police (McIntyre 19). When his sister Leah was raped and his brother James was killed by one of the neighborhood boys, the police did nothing (McIntyre 21). This lack of empathy and response from the police taught Washington that life was not very valuable. He was on bail for a rape and kidnapping charge and had raped three other women. The one rape charge he had against him was being handled by a private lawyer. These factors all play together and taught Washington that his actions had no consequences (McIntyre 25).

Essay on Police Brutality Controversial Issues

Annotations:

Peter Moskos in “You Can’t Blame The Police” (The New York Times: Young, Black, and Male in America, June 3rd, 2015) believes that although police should work more sensitively in minority communities he strongly believes that most of the harm being done to these minorities are self-inflicted and the police should not be blamed. He furthers his argument by providing statistics that support his beliefs and in fact, point out the hostile nature of many minority communities. He makes it clear that he does believe that there are cases where corrupt officers need to be addressed and dealt with but in order to persuade his audience to place the majority of the blame on minorities and their communities he goes on to analyze the crime done by whites and their neighborhoods in comparison to colored and theirs. “It’s not politically correct to say so, but the reality isn’t politically correct. Over 90 percent of New York City’s 536 murder victims last year were black or Hispanic. Just 48 victims were white or Asian”; this is a quote I choose from Moskos’s article to reflect that not everyone believes training police is the solution but rather understanding that the community needs to change in order for law enforcement to.

Stevenson Reynolds, author of “Protesting the Police” ( Social Movement Studies: School of Sociology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, Jan 2018, Vol. 17 Issue 1, 48-63) reports that officers are more responsive to active Police brutality protest more so than any other mass protest. Reynolds believes this to be true based on his own proven research and the proclamation he believes to be true stating that police see these protests as potential threats and can lead to city riots. The author is attempting to reflect the mindset of law enforcement and how they are sensitive and paranoid in order to get his point across about how protest is only delaying police brutality reform. Reynolds goes on to say “While police serve as intermediaries for political elites’ interests, they are also guided by their own interests and goals as a profession”, this is an important quote because it’s a reminder that not only does training need to be reformed but mindsets as well.

Curtis Gilbert, writer of “Most States Neglect Ordering Police to Learn De-Escalation Tactics to Avoid Shootings.”( Not Trained to Not Kill: APM Reports, 5 May 2017) reports that Police department training is left to local agencies and that many agency chiefs are dismissing the importance of de-escalating tactics. Gilbert’s report mentions a variety of different cases and situations that suggest that training in certain department areas is beneficial more than others. In order for Gilbert to fully express these reports, he provides details in regards to the “Ask, Tell, Make” procedure used by officers and how different regions receiving different levels of training compare to each other; this is vital data for a report like mine.

Leonard Moore in “Police Brutality in the United States” ( Encyclopædia Britannica: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., July 9th, 2016) believes that all races have been subjected to police brutality but puts emphasis on ethnics groups and minorities due to stereotypes and profiling.“Forms of police brutality have ranged from assault and battery (e.g., beatings) to mayhem, torture, and murder”, this direct quote explains the different ways officers are capable of abusing their power and causing more harm than help. Moore’s article is an informative one, meant to convey important information and detail on why police brutality is as prevalent; in order to do this. Moore writes about events predating those of today even addressing the great migration and segregation and 9/11 with the purpose of hoping they will help the reader understand the daunting importance of these unfortunate commonalities

Deborah C. England, author of “Police Brutality” ( Nolo: legal encyclopedia, Dec 3rd, 2013) argues that police officers are government agents and any injustice committed by government officials is in violation of citizen rights and viable for a lawsuit. The author is trying to get the point across that if police officers are not willing to change or reform there are legal ways to fight back. It is clear that England did her research with this following Section 1983 of the Civil Rights Act of 1871 provides for a private civil action for damages by any person deprived of his or her civil rights by anyone acting under “color” of law. In order to make a statement, England truly believes that legally pursuing justice is the next step in taking further police training and reform.

Sanjana Karanth, author of “Julián Castro Says Tackling Gun Violence Must Include Police Brutality” (HuffPost: HuffPost, 16 Oct. 2019) reports how “Castro is one of the only candidates whose plans to address gun violence also include addressing police brutality”. She is making a case for his election towards her intended audience of future and current voters. In order to get a message across she includes a video of Castro’s presidential debate and makes it known that Castro’s awareness of the negatives that plague many minorities is on his to-do list. This is relevant to my report because it shows a potential sign of progress, knowing that a politician is willing to help reform the law enforcement system allows people to believe that at least on this topic their voices and shouts for change and better training will be heard.

Amy Novotney in “Preventing police misconduct” (Monitor on Psychology: American Psychological Association) stated that the New Orleans Police Department has undergone a huge reform in training on how to restrain from being heated and overreacting. Novotney says that “The city is already seeing some positive effects: Since the NOPD launched EPIC last year, the department has seen fewer complaints against police officers,” Novotney is trying to make it known that training can work when done right and should be practiced throughout the country. In order to spread her message, she needs a genuine sense of progress and to be infectious to her audience. This is important for my own report because it reflects how my viewpoint can be a possible solution against police brutality.

Alan Neuhauser in “Can Training Really Stop Police Bias?”(U.S. News & World Report: U.S. News & World Report)Insisting that the dieters program be treated and practiced all throughout the U.S. Neuhauser expressed how the training to combat all levels of stress is believed to prepare officers during all actions within their field of work. In order for Dieter’s program to work Believes needs to gain popularity and be funded. Without a doubt, I agree it should be funded and it’s only a matter of time before some nationwide training is put in place.

Synthesis:

There are a lot of current systems in place in desperate need of reform Law Enforcements training being one of them. There have been too many cases of officers abusing their power and police brutality crippling a neighborhood. Former Housing Secretary Julián Castro said this when addressing the connection between police brutality and gun violence in America today ‘I am not going to give these police officers another reason to go door-to-door in certain communities because police violence is also gun violence and we need to address that.” Certain politicians like Castro see that there is a problem that needs fixing here. Events that can occur can even weaken the trust of the community as seen in Deborah England’s article from Nolo.com. She brings up points regarding the unreasonable searching and detaining of non-lethal civilians and suspects and how officers violate rights and in extreme cases overreact and respond in an unethical and unacceptable manner. (England, Deborah C. “Police Brutality.” Www.nolo.com, Nolo, 3 Dec. 2013, www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/police-brutality.) *(Karanth, Sanjana. “Julián Castro Says Tackling Gun Violence Must Include Police Brutality.” HuffPost, HuffPost, 16 Oct. 2019, ww.huffpost.com/entry/julian-castro-gun-violence -police-brutality-democratic-debate)

Police brutality is not anything new; the threat of corrupt law officials has plagued the United States for generations, however in a world like today where society relies on social media and everyone has a camera on them at all times has brought the issue of police corruption front and center to the public eye. Certain reforms like the body cam were a huge step in the right direction in regulating the cop’s behavior by allowing him/her to know that they are always under surveillance and any abuse of power would be documented. But reform cannot stop there. By no means do I believe that law enforcement should receive 100% blame for many of the unfortunate cases that have occurred but I do believe it starts with the police and their training. Law enforcement trainer Duane Dieter believes we can teach de-escalation by exposing officers to all levels of stress during training. He has his own program intended to decrease the risk for both officers and civilians in an approach to help the officer anticipate a sign of potential danger more accurately. Dieter believes he can help both parties and is actually actively willing to partake as opposed to Peter Moskos who essentially blames minorities for not wanting to help themselves. The Dieter program could be the next big help similar to the body cams and I believe it can be the foundation of many law enforcement pieces of training. (“Can Training Really Stop Police Bias?” U.S. News & World Report, U.S. News & World Report, www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2016-12-29/can-training-really-stop-police-bias).

Postscript:

There will always be a minimum of two-sided to any and every story. This is because perspective is relative to an individual and everyone will not share the same point of view, especially not on such a controversial topic as Police Brutality. I knew that I needed to find a variety of sources over a range of subtopics within the realm of police brutality reform. I found that I was more willing to read and write about an article that shared an opposite view from my own view. I also took into account when writing my synthesis that my audience would be those in charge of police training and reform against police brutality. Because of the issues in regards to my topic, I was able to focus longer and this led to an easier writing experience.

Fortunately, I have been blessed to not have any personal experience when it pertains to police brutality, however, I have been unjustifiably profiled by law enforcement and have been made fully aware of what is at stake whenever I am approached by an officer. This is because when I was very young I was told that my color to will be seen as a threat and or as a target. I was taught that not all cops were just or fair and it was instilled in me that if I was ever confronted by an officer my only goal was to make it back home. Because of passed down knowledge, media, and personal experiences, I already had a particular outlook on this matter. Before my research, I believed wholeheartedly that law enforcement needed to be trained better, equipped accordingly, and most importantly deployed strategically. Then I started doing research and reading more and more articles. I soon found myself conflicted and overthinking. I somewhat changed my perspective and take on the matter. I realized the same way I feel that I have to make it home every day no matter what is the same way they feel. I started to sympathize with officers in inner-city communities and how they put their life in potential danger every day, and when I look at it from that perspective I can try to understand the pressure and paranoia that they face and how it is similar to what I myself faced growing up. After realizing all of that humanizing law enforcement unlike how I did before I can see how my ignorance did not allow me to see this issue from both sides. With that being said I’m not exactly sure what is the best course of action but I do know it’s going to take effort from both the law officers and civilians.

Analytical Essay on Police Brutality in the 80s

Johnson’s conscious decision to write the poem, Sonny’s Lettah, in the non-standard English language, specifically Patois, is a particularly distinctive language feature in most of his work. Surprisingly, the narrator’s nationality or race is not made clear or directly confirmed through physical descriptions, rather this takes place through the use of language. The fact that the entire poem is written in a typical Caribbean dialect on the account of the narrator hints at his ethnic background and that he is not native to England. The poem was initially released in 1979, after the mass migration of people from commonwealth countries, particularly the famous Windrush generation from the Caribbean.

The poem represents how black individuals, especially young men such as “likkle Jim” were treated by the social epitome of authoritative figures, the police. However, it also depicts the relationship between black men in Britain during the late 70s and early 80s, where they had to “look out” for each other, as no one else would. The narrator sets the scene by describing “mi an Jim stan-up/ waitin pan a bus,/ nat cauzin no fus”, further reinforcing the brutal treatment they received in the above-mentioned unprovoked incident. The poem is subtitled “(Anti-Sus Poem) proving that it is clearly written in protest of the ‘sus law’ that was enforced in the Vagrancy Act of 1824, which was in other terms racially profiling. The law was abolished soon after the publication of this poem, after the 1981 Brixton riots in London.

The abab rhyme scheme becomes prominent in two stanzas of the poem where the rhyme is much more noticeable once read orally and interpreted aurally. These stanzas, eight and ten, beginning “dem tump him in the belly” and “an him start to cry” respectively, are when violence takes place in the poem.

Both stanzas highlight the severity of police brutality on the two young, presumably black men. In essence, this sheds light on the taboo topic of brutality towards black people, which during the context, society partook in subscribing to the British norm of pushing such political topics ‘under the rug’. Arguably, the rigid structure in the two stanzas is representative of the harsh treatment black individuals received from the police, which was done in order to assert physical and legal dominance and power; putting a hierarchy in place. The repetition of “an him” and “mi tump” displays the narrator’s resistance to the power of the police. This act of “tump[ing]” carried out by the narrator leads to the harsh consequences when “dem charge Jim for sus,// den charge mi fi murdah” as a result of their inability to submit and essentially give power to the police. The fact that this stanza begins and ends with “an him”, in reference to a police officer, suggests the cyclicality in the negative nature of the relationship between young black men and the police, never changing and never-ending.

Social Issues of Police Brutality: Research Paper

As long as there are crimes, and people willing to or compelled to commit them, there will always be a need for specialized forces to serve, protect and keep us. Every day, in every city and town across the world, police officers sport their uniforms and serve the vital role of helping to make and keep our lives and the lives of countless others safer. Recently, however, police officers, our very same unmasked superheroes of the modern era, have been within our generation recurrently brought under intense levels of scrutiny and doubt based on their interactions with the general public. In August 2014, the situation had gotten so out of control that in light of the absolutely horrific and questionable shooting of civilian Michael Brown from Ferguson, Missouri, the American police task force was impelled by the United States government to introduce a particular technology we know today as the body-worn camera. With the introduction of this technology, the United States government sought to restore a greater sense of accountability and transparency as it relates to police officials and their interactions with who they deem to be “criminal suspects”. With the steadily increasing incidence of these instances of police brutality within the last couple of years, it raised the million-dollar question put forth by this assignment: How much and which forms of information do police officers need to arrive at or to issue an arrest warrant or to justify a warrantless arrest? Generally, as it relates to what the justice system refers to as “probable cause” with respect to whether or not a person is or can be considered a “criminal suspect” requires more than a mere suspicion that a suspect committed a crime — with that said, I imagine that insight into and evaluation of the roles of concepts like exemplars, prototypes, schemas and social representations and their consequent implications in situations involving interactions with police officers and civilians could be very valuable in providing an understanding of these very sensitive and critical situations.

Within the context of cognitive psychology, the exemplar theory of categorization serves as a proposal for explaining one of the many ways humans seek to mentally organize and store various concepts and ideas in psychology. According to American academic and author Daniel Reisberg, the term exemplar refers to a “specific remembered instance” or ideal example of knowledge about individual members of a category. The exemplar approach argues that we first learn or experience some specific examples of a particular concept; then further classify each subsequent instance of new stimulus by deciding how closely it resembles those previously learned examples (Medin & Rips, 2005; Wisniewski, 2002). Essentially, the newly experienced stimuli are categorized based on the greatest number of abstract similarities it holds with already existing exemplars stored within that particular category within our memories. As it relates to the example of an officer on patrol who has to arrive at a decision on whether or not a person can be classified a “criminal suspect”, the exemplar approach to categorization would suggest that in arriving at this decision the officer would make use of previously existing instances of encounters with other criminals. For example, in the case of the July 6, 2016 shooting of Philando Castile it was reported that at the time of the incident, a St. Anthony police officer patrolling Larpenteur Avenue radioed to a nearby squad that he planned to pull over the car driven by Castile transporting both his girlfriend and young daughter, and check the IDs of the driver and passenger, suggesting that, ‘The two occupants just look like people that were involved in a robbery. The driver looks more like one of our suspects, just because of the wide-set nose. I couldn’t get a good look at the passenger.” As seen in this particular example, the implication of the use of the exemplar approach in this particular case could be observed in the officer’s decision to pull over Castile and fatally injure him being based entirely upon a previously categorized instance of two suspected robbers based on something as universal to people of Castile’s ethnicity as “a wide set nose”. According to reports on the incident, it only took 40 seconds for Officer Jeronimo Yanez to gun down Philando Castile through his car window after having initiated a conversation — 40 seconds to decide, based on “a wide set nose” and simply “looking like people” that Mr. Castile was, as required by the justice system, guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. In this case, this particular instance of overgeneralization of the police officer greatly cost a young woman and her four-year-old daughter, taking from them a life partner and a father.

Linguistically, the term “prototype” is used to describe something original — which in consideration of its originality and uniqueness serves as a standard or primary example of a particular concept; and this is no less true in terms of cognitive psychology. Cognitive Psychology dictates that a prototype by definition, describes a stimulus which, with respect to categorization, represents the most central or salient member associated with a particular category. Similarly to the exemplar approach, the prototype approach speaks to what could be described as a graded notion of categorization, in that the prototype theory, when applied to the categorization of certain stimuli, associates particular models of stimuli more definitively as a member of a particular category than others. As instances of police brutality or police injustice increases it becomes increasingly apparent that there does seem to be a certain “prototype” that police officers are known to arrest and quite often, as seen in the Castile shooting and countless others, kill based upon their impression of these individuals as “criminal suspects”. Essentially, most of the victims of these police officers when arrested or even stopped based upon the assumption of their guilt, seem to possess very specific features. In most instances of police arrests, a majority of the individuals who actually “account for their crimes” or in other words are arrested tend to: be casually or “unprofessionally” dressed or be unemployed, live within lower-income areas, and seemingly most primarily be of African American descent. In observing the “prototype” set forth by the American Justice System i.e. police officers, it can be, on some level, safe to assume or imply that Caucasian men simply do not by any means seem to incur similar levels of police activity or even suspicion in relation to African American men, whether or not they are in fact guilty. In the case of the prototype theory, I imagine that the implications of this particular mode of categorization, as explained above, could result in particular members of society eg. Caucasian men, being overlooked or even pardoned for particular crimes and injustices based simply upon being overlooked for either “not fitting the role” or even more simply “being white”.

The term schema, as referenced in Cognitive Psychology, represents a pattern or framework of thought or behavior which organizes numerous categories of information within our brains or memories and further defines the relationships between them in the hopes of making future experiences with similar situations or concepts easier to navigate and understand. Examples of schemata include archetypes, social roles, world views, and stereotypes. Within our generation, and for as long as time can remember, stereotypes have been the most prominent and recurring of the aforementioned examples of schemata, especially as it relates to the example of police officers who “suspect” a person to be a “criminal”. In 1996, English Psychology Professor Mike Cardwell of Bath Spa University defined the term stereotype as “a fixed, over-generalized belief about a particular group or class of people”. An example of a stereotype that seems to be fixedly and unwaveringly upheld by police officers within the American Justice System would be that all African Americans, primarily men, are inherently and unquestionably violent and angry and as a result must, in all cases, be considered dangerous. It is also firmly believed by police officers of this day and age, particularly of Caucasian descent, that men of this ethnicity do not respect men in uniform or their position of authority and must therefore be reminded of this position at each opportune moment, no matter the cost. The implication of this particular mode of categorization can be observed in each and every recorded instance of police brutality or misconduct whether reported accordingly or not within the last decade or so, and can also be found within the definition of the term in that by stereotyping an individual we infer that that person possesses a particular set of characteristics and tendencies that we assume all members of that particular group also possess. Cardwell suggests that by definition a stereotype is both fixed and over-generalized, with this in mind it is easy to imagine that with stereotyping we, as humans, are often prone to ignoring the individualistic and often personal differences of particular individuals and run the very dangerous risk of over-generalizing. With respect to the suspicion and often consequent and unwarranted murder of predominantly African American male victims this unwavering overgeneralization of the behaviors or tendencies of these individuals can result in police officers not taking the time or even being capable of acknowledging or noticing that this belief they have might not necessarily be true for all members of the schema of “criminal suspect”. An example of this implication in action can be observed in the incidence of the shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. On February 26, 2012, within the gates of The Retreat at Twin Lakes gated community in Sanford, Florida, George Zimmerman, who had been appointed as the community’s coordinator of the community’s neighborhood watch by Wendy Dorival of the Sanford Police Department based on crimes committed at The Retreat from January 1, 2011, through February 26, 2012, was driving around the neighborhood on a personal errand. As he went about his personal errand, George Zimmerman observed young Trayvon Martin returning to The Retreat from a nearby convenience store and upon having observed him and deemed him “suspicious” proceeded to report Trayvon to the Sanford Police Department based simply upon the fact that Trayvon was as described by Zimmerman ‘just walking around looking about … wearing a dark hoodie, like a grey hoodie” and looking like ‘he is up to no good or he is on drugs or something.” In this particular instance it is beyond safe to assume that Zimmerman’s suspicion and subsequent shooting and killing of Trayvon Martin were based primarily and absolutely upon stereotyping because according to reports we come to learn that during the months leading up to February 26, 2012, shooting, Zimmerman made numerous calls to the Sanford Police Department several to report people he believed to be suspicious. On each of these calls, Zimmerman found it important to offer up information about the race of his suspects which apparently were all black males despite the fact that the population of the development at the time of the shooting was about 49% non-Hispanic white, 23% Hispanic (of any race), 20% black, and 5% Asian, according to Census figures. Also, on the day of the shooting in that call he made to the department regarding his observation of Martin, Zimmerman was also reported to have stated unabashedly that ‘these assholes, they always get away.” Trayvon Martin, as a result of George Zimmerman’s disgusting display of stereotyping, lost his life that day based simply on his attire, his gait, and ultimately, his ethnicity.

Finally, we will define, and evaluate the implications of, the social representations theory as developed by Serge Moscovici, which enables us to, on a global level, understand and explain the way individuals and groups within society elaborate, transform, and communicate their social reality. This theory, as I have come to understand it based on my research, speaks to a mental system or set of values, ideas, and practices almost akin to what we colloquially refer to as “common sense”. The term “common sense” describes a sound and practical ability to perceive, understand and ultimately judge our everyday experiences or encounters that are shared by or “common to” nearly every person. Essentially, the social representations theory posits that in order to understand and hopefully conquer or “master” our social and material world, we draw on or rely on shared views of the world based upon things such as our social interactions, our exposure to varying forms of media and their various portrayals, and also to our actual day-to-day experiences and encounters within our world. Needless to say, our views of the world are shaped and formed primarily based on who we are as people, where we are from, and the things we have experienced within our lives i.e. our experience and understanding of this experience “life” is entirely contextual. To that effect, McKinlay and Potter suggested that intellectual activity constitutes a mere rehearsal or representation of what has already gone before, in that our minds are conditioned by representations that are forced upon us. (McKinlay & Potter, 1987, p. 475) The very obvious, especially as it relates to police officers and their apparent bias as it relates to “criminal suspects”, implication brought forth by the social representation theory is that most police officers, especially within certain areas or “jurisdictions” possess rather outdated and outlandishly racist representations or systems of belief about exactly what “criminal suspects” look like and are expected to behave like dating as far back as the days of slavery. Sadly, most police officers or law enforcement officials are in fact of Caucasian descent and were consequently raised to believe that they can do no wrong, that everything they can see, touch and hear belongs to them, and that above all there is no one who can touch them, they are superior. With these outlandish and outdated beliefs in consideration it is incredibly easy to understand how based on years of what we came to know through Hitler as indoctrination, it would be so easy for the modern-day “cop” to arrive without a second thought that each and every Philando Castile, Tamir Rice, Alton Sterling, Trayvon Martin, and Michael Brown is fair game and is without a shadow of a doubt guilty; even if there only crime was believing they were free to live their lives.

Police Brutality Pros and Cons: Critical Essay

On August 9, 2014, Unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown’s life was taken by cops. He was shot multiple times, the last shot to the back of his head is the thing that took this youngster’s life. He was a youthful unarmed dark male. Just in 2014, more than 1,000 individuals were murdered on account of cops. Be that as it may, despite the fact that police say they are simply carrying out their responsibility, police ought not to have the option to mishandle their capacity, since more instances of police severity are being caught on mobile phones and blameless individuals are being executed. (2014)

How you become an official is by getting the Necessary Education. A secondary school confirmation or a GED is regularly the base level of instruction expected to turn into a cop, Submit an Application to a Police Department, Graduate from a Police Academy Training Program, and Actively Work to Obtain Promotions. A cop, as per the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the basic obligations of a cop incorporate watching assigned regions, upholding laws, noting calls for help, capturing people associated with carrying out violations, giving references, affirming in court, and leading traffic stops. Each Officer needs to make a vow before starting their profession in law implementation to set a decent structure of what they are there to do. (2014)

Michael Brown was a youthful African American that lived in Ferguson. He was with one of his companions at a nearby market where he snatched a few cigarettes and exited without paying for them. Official Darren Wilson at that point shot dark colored and his companion, left with just one shot. The official saw Brown at 12:01 and by 12:04 Michael was lying face down dead with 7 shots through his body remembering the two for his head.

Officer Wilson was later found not guilty. This is a great example to show how law enforcement doesn’t have to pay for the actions they take while on duty. People ask what is police brutality, it’s an act of misconduct done by sworn law enforcement to physically, mentally, or emotionally attack a group of people or a single individual. Law enforcement takes an oath to protect and serve, but these same officers take advantage of their power to physically and even sometimes emotionally harm us. In some of the more severe cases, innocent citizens are killed by police officers like Michael Brown was. Police brutality is not a new problem is just one that has grown through the years These offices have abused the power they detain. (ABC News, 2014) The abuse used by police officers is a serious offense that violates a person’s human and civil rights. They feel like they are above the law , because they carry a badge and a gun.

Racial profiling is one of the biggest problems. ‘Racial Profiling’ refers to the discriminatory practice by law enforcement officials of targeting individuals for suspicion of crime based on the individual’s race, ethnicity, religion, or national origin. A civil rights case states “ In Newark, New Jersey, on the night of June 14, 2008, two youths aged 15 and 13 were riding in a car driven by their football coach, Kelvin Lamar James. All were African American. Newark police officers stopped their car in the rain, pulled the three out, and held them at gunpoint while the car was searched. James stated that the search violated his rights. One officer replied in abusive language that the three African Americans didn’t have rights and that the police ‘had no rules.’ The search of the car found no contraband, only football equipment.” This civil rights case is insisting that those officers racially profiled these innocent citizens violated their rights and invaded private property. It’s very difficult to prove racial profiling, in a majority of cases there is no evidence and the police officers can claim the stop to be a routine traffic stop. (Katel, 2016)

In the United States in 2012 statistics by the FBI, show that the population was 313,910,000 people, but there were only 670,438 sworn peace officers so if you do the math only about 2 ½ officers for every 1,000 people. So people might say that law enforcement is highly outnumbered. When you see police brutality going on, most response by officers is that “We are just doing our job.” You are starting to see more and more cases of police brutality being reported to the public.

In September 2015, 703 people have been killed by on-duty police officers. This is almost double the highest amount of police shootings ever reported by the FBI for an entire year. Out of the 703 people killed, about 65 of them were unarmed. People unarmed are being killed by officers who are sworn to protect them. (Lowery, 2019)

You are seeing more and more cases being reported of police brutality. We live in a world where there is probably a camera on every corner. Technology has helped numerous times with reporting the abuse by having digital evidence to back up your report. Almost every cell phone is equipped with a camera. You as a citizen have the right to record any encounter with law enforcement. Most of the time an officer would tell you that you can’t record them, which is a lie, and are only trying to protect yourself from getting caught. If you as a citizen see an officer abusing the law and violating human rights, you have the legal right to record and report the situation. (Lowery, 2019)

Law Enforcement agencies are considering or are already making their police officers wear body cameras to record their everyday encounters. Many will argue that making an officer wear a body camera would invade the privacy of an officer on a daily basis and make it unfair to the officers. To argue with what many would say is that officers will actually do a better job because they know someone could see how they handled the situation from the beginning. To add to that they wouldn’t just take the officer’s word there would actually be evidence to back up his statement. Police would actually think twice to do something because they are being recorded. Body cameras are like keeping an eye on things and having a different point of view. That different point of view would not pick a side and would be what happened during the encounter between the officer and citizen. (Katel, 2016)

Redditt Hudson grew up hating the police because they would routinely rough up his friends and family for no good reason. He hated the way the police treated them, but he knew they weren’t all that bad. One of his father’s close friends was a cop, who later went on to become his mentor. Redditt, later on, joined the St. Louis Police Department and quickly realized that not all, but most of his peers were very racist. His fellow officers who took an oath considered people of color “thugs” no matter if they were the victim or just a bystander.

They saw young black and brown men as targets, therefore they would respond with force to even minor offenses. Cops are rarely held accountable for their actions so they didn’t really have to think twice about the consequence. Redditt reported this to his sergeant and was told to get back to work and drop the report. Reddit states, “I was participating in a profoundly corrupt criminal justice system. I could not, in good conscience, participate in a system that was so intentionally unfair and racist. so after five years on the job, I quit.” In other words, Redditt is saying that he couldn’t take how cops can abuse their power and violate their rights.

31-year-old Corey Jones “a well-known area musician, was carrying a gun he had purchased legally just three days earlier when he was shot and killed by a police officer early Sunday morning.” Jones was waiting for a tow truck after his vehicle broke down on Interstate 95 after a Saturday night gig. Jones was encountered by police officer Nouman Raja around 3:15 am in his unmarked car and in plain clothes. Police say “that Raja believed he was investigating an abandoned vehicle.” Jones’s death seems to add a new twist to such cases, police shooting a black male legally carrying a firearm.

A South Carolina Police officer was caught on camera throwing an African American teenage girl into a classroom at Spring Valley High School. She was asked to stand up before he snatched her and tossed her from her chair which was captured on multiple cell phones and video recorders. This video was quickly spread through social media humiliating her even after she has already been physically abused. The actions he took were unnecessary and could have been handled in a different situation and wouldn’t have happened how this happened. Lott said, “What she does is not what I’m looking at; What I’m looking at is what our student resource officer did.” “He was wrong in his actions and it was not what I expect of my deputies.” “Deputy Fields did not follow proper training or procedures when he threw the student across the room. It continues to upset me that he picked the student up and threw her.” What Lott was saying is that this was totally out of hand and should have never happened to a student he was trained better than this. He was suspended without pay and banned from school. Later that week the officer Ben Fields was fired from his department. (Harris, 2010)

This has been cases where even young teen have had their civil rights violated and some have even paid with their lives. A 17-year-old Michigan teen was pulled over on state highway 43 on his way home from his girlfriend’s house by Sheriff Jonathan Frost after he flashed his light to the sheriff because he had his high beams on. The officer was very rude to the young teen and was harassing him. The sheriff denied he had his high beams on to the young teen, but clearly, in the video, you can see the officer has his high beams on. The young teen and sheriff are arguing about the situation and got out of control. Then the officer pulled him out of his car and was stun gun and then the situation got violent. Frost then pulled out his gun and shot the young teen dead, the teen was unarmed on had a cell phone with him to record the encounter. A young man lost his life because a sheriff didn’t want to admit he was driving with his high beams and took a situation that could have highly been avoided and should have never ended how it did.

You hear about it on the news almost every week about how another life was taken by an officer on duty. Year after year more and more cases of police brutality or” misconduct” are being reported to the public. Police officers should get more training to learn how to handle an encounter that gets out of control. Police should not judge an individual on their face or how they look. Police should have to use lethal force so lease people have to pay with their lives and cops can keep the respect they are given by the community. (Harris, 2010)

Police Brutality Debates: Research Paper

Did you know that police brutality occurrences have taken a toll on the Joined together States of over 1.8 billion dollars? The US has ended up unimaginably infamous when it comes to police brutality and its perils towards society. In 2018 there were 1,164 American civilians that had been slaughtered by police officers alone. This Paper will address the major issues that are appeared through acts of police viciousness, or more particularly the manhandling of approved guns, the boundless sum of assurance that’s gotten due to occupation, and most imperatively the damaging effect that it has on families, communities and indeed other individual police officers.

America hasn’t continuously had the finest notoriety when it comes to its weapon control, in any case, the measurements gotten to be a parcel more horrible when looking at the authorized police utilization and the intemperate gunfire behind it. Compared to other nations, American police officers slaughter more individuals in fair 24 hours than other nations might indeed do in a year. In a fair 1 month, American officers have shot and slaughtered over 90 distinctive individuals while it has taken Australian officers 19 entire a long time to indeed come near to that number. Indeed scarier than that are the fifteen cities with officers that slaughter indeed more than the normal kill rate. Due to the new control police regions have for utilize of dangerous constrain, officers have taken advantage of their authorization causing them to utilize their guns in unscrupulous ways. Within the year of 2013 as it were 6 bullets were ever shot by police officers in Finland. Be that as it may, in 2018 more than 3 times that sum was let go towards an unarmed African-American man named Stephon Clark, murdering him nearly immediately. One would accept that these officers would either have their identification ended or at slightest suspended for superfluous utilization of deadly drive, but within the conclusion they got no charges at all. This brings us to the following major complication

With such amazingly tall numbers, it would not be exceptionally shocking to see degenerate officers be sentenced or imprisoned, in any case, the truth is the probability of a police officer ever being sentenced of wrongdoing is distant, distant lower than a regular individual. An investigation of 3238 charges against officers of the law found that as it were 33 percent were ever sentenced and as it were a third of those who were really indicted finished serving a sentence. This can be nearly half of the rate at which regular individuals are imprisoned for. Due to the respectful benefit that police officers give, the legal law has an ignored predisposition towards officers in a huge larger part of cases.

This implies that since of their word-related status, they have a much higher sum of government security, giving unscrupulous and false officers a way of misusing the lawful framework. This assist permits them to perform different shapes of unfortunate behavior and brutality without ever having to stress around being sentenced for doing so. The much more despicable acts that are performed by these certain officers make a perilous generalization. And while offices will attempt to keep these occurrences covered up from the open in arrange to maintain a strategic distance from satisfying that generalization, doing so really closes up being much more hurtful to their notoriety than expected.

One of the biggest issues with police brutality isn’t really the over-the-top and unrefined conduct of certain officers, but instep the damaging hurt they bring towards the notoriety of police as a whole. One of the foremost famous and persuasive minutes of police brutality was the 1992 LA riots, more freely perceived as the Rodney Ruler riots. To outline the occasions driving up to the riots. On a walk, a dark man named Rodney Lord drove police on a high-speed chase through Los Angeles. When police, at last, ceased him, Ruler was requested out of the car. Los Angeles Police Office officers at that point kicked him over and over and beat him with a mallet for a detailed 15 minutes, causing him cranium breaks, broken bones, and lasting brain harm. In any case unbeknownst to these officers a bystander had shot the whole thing. This was one of the primary times when such tall levels of police brutality were ever obviously recorded, a story that had everyone on the edge of their seats. This is why when the court found the four charged officers as not blameworthy, it caused Los Angeles to eject in outrage. Less than three hours after the decision was discharged, an arrangement of riots started to strike all over parts of the city. Broad plundering and viciousness covered the roads as inhabitants started to set fire to distinctive alcohol and retail stores assaulting anybody terrible sufficient to be caught in the crossfire. The riots got so out of control that the California national armed force protection together with the 7th infantry military division were both conveyed to LA in an endeavor to reestablish the city to its previous state. While they were in the long run competent in returning Los Angeles to peace and arrange, the riots still caused 63 passings, 2383 wounds, and over a billion dollars in property harm. This caused the open conclusion of the police to radically drop and intensely fuelled the preexisting pressure between the African American community and their dissatisfaction with the legal framework. Due to the sudden villainization of police officers. The levels of regard and belief within the police had been practically surrendered and rather than feeling secure in their nearness individuals were starting to end up jumpy and watchful. As a result of the pernicious conduct shown by the four officers, they were capable of causing one of America’s most noticeably awful riots, eventually helping in the annihilation of the police force’s notoriety. Not as it were does it dishearten great officers from doing their work accurately, but moreover makes an awful generalization for the police. This implies that not as it were casualties of police brutality influenced, but all of society as entire as we are raised accepting that the individuals who are really implied to secure us, are not planning to ensure us at all.

In general, both the over-the-top utilization of drive and offense appeared in the rate of police officers, combined with the copious level of security that the legal framework gives them, makes an unsafe generalization that influences not as it were police officers but the common open. Police brutality is an issue that influences the world, both socially and physically, and clears out us to inquire, “Who do we call when the police break the law?” protect us at all.

Police Racial Profiling Essay

Former police officer Derek Chauvin in April 2021 was found guilty of murdering George Flyod on May 25, 2021, when Chauvin knelt on Flyod’s knee for 9 minutes and 29 seconds when police had Floyd in custody already. For months and months, Black Lives Matter protests and projections against police brutality and violence against Black Americans overall continued to happen because of this. The majority of these protests were by the black lives matter community and patrolled by the police force, they used tear gas, pepper spray, batons, and rubber bullets because Americans were protesting for our rights. In 2020 alone police have allegedly killed nearly 1,127 people, and as of October 6, 2021, police have killed 800 people. Some statistics show that Black people are three times more likely to be killed by a police officer, while also being 1.3 more likely to be not be armed. These statistics are only continuing to rise day by day, so you may ask yourself why is this happening. And how do we put an end to this constant issue in America as citizens?

While we Americans, black and white, are continuing to protest for our human rights against police violence and Black Lives Matter, we can only voice our rights and options so much and act on so much, so as a society, we need to change this issue. As one country and as humans in this society we need to keep swimming and fighting for our rights, we can’t only do it when we have a case where a Black American was killed by a police officer, or somebody gets away with murder, it has to be a constant fight and we can’t let ourselves be defeated by adversity. Not everyone in society ever agrees on the same thing, we can’t and that’s why we have so many of these recurring issues in American history. In my generation today I know

people in society are much more prone to speaking out on their rights and the treatment we deserve, now with that being said this is how rioting and looting happen because people take advantage of what the purpose of the event or protest really is.

Police brutality and racial profiling aren’t issues of the past that might be virtually reemerging in recent times. the thrashing of Rodney King passed off twenty-four years in the past on March 3, 1991. It seems like the police network has not advanced nor regressed since then and now we have a better idea that police brutality and racial profiling are occurring towards both ends of the spectrum black and white. Police brutality is the usage of useless or immoderate pressure on an individual. The movements of a police officer are primarily based on someone’s race or ethnicity; not the all likelihood cause or a person’s conduct is considered racial profiling (Chapman, 2010). the answer to the number one question, “Has the police for the reason that twelve months of 2014, police brutality and racial profiling grown swiftly? these problems have constantly been prominent worldwide and may be traced again centuries.

The Rodney King case occurred twenty-four years within the beyond as of March three, 2015, it entails acts of police brutality and racial profiling that passed off within the 20th century and shook the nation. On March 3, 1991, in California, Rodney King was brutally beaten by more than twenty law enforcement officials (Martin, 2005). The beating of the king was captured on video through the way of George Holliday (Martin, 2005). Rodney King was kicked, shot with a Taser, and struck with a nightstick excessively (Solomon, 2004). After the police beat King, they tied his arms and feet together inside the returned of his lower back and pulled his face down (Solomon, 2004). As a result, King sustained numerous injuries a concussion, damage to his nerves and kidney, and everlasting mind damage (Solomon, 2004). the beating of Rodney King has grown to be the most well-known police brutality case in history (Martin, law enforcement officials are constantly interacting with the majority so it’s miles inevitable that they may collect employer emotions and assumptions about someone based mostly on their race and ethnicity (Semple, 2013). each person is entitled to have their non-public reviews and beliefs, however, the ones with identical evaluations and beliefs bring about discriminatory remedies of positive humans (Semple, 2013). Many regulation enforcement company exhausts charge range and property to educate their personnel and destiny personnel to be unaware of race and faith and guard and serve human beings equally (Semple, 2013). Police misconduct inclusive of brutality and racial profiling can be reduced through strict surveillance and sensitivity schooling (Osterndorf, 2015).

Police need to save you letting their feelings get concerned when coping with the law with a citizen. officers are frequently aggravated after they undergo sustainment schooling or new schooling because of the notion that they’re in the process of reveling in and know-how is enough to do their manner (Semple, 2013). The scenario with that shape of comportment is that during a few unspecified times within the destiny, their cognizance becomes pass due to the fact they had been reluctant to undergo education and take in incipient erudition. officials who are paid a competitive income are a lot much less susceptible to corruption due to the fact they do not have the desideratum to glom to seize up on a low income.

Streak forward to the mid-1900s, when urban areas like Chicago have been experiencing official impassion and concealed managing police fierceness. In 1969 Dark Jaguar pioneers were killed during a police strike. A public clamor that came about because of this prompted a Government Social liberties examination. Despite the fact that proof showed that the police discharged in excess of 90 shots at the Jaguars, they were not prosecuted rather the two players were similarly accused. This decision thus prompted further shock, especially from the African American people group.

Chicago is in no way, shape, or form a disengaged illustration of the fact that it is so difficult to get arraignment after a frequency of police ruthlessness. In other significant urban communities like New York, Los Angeles, New Orleans, and Oakland, there have been a few records of forceful policing yet even despite public resentment the cops were barely at any point charged for their unfortunate activities. The greater part of the cases include white cops and African-American suspects. For example in Oakland, California in 1990 a unit of white cops named the ‘Harsh Riders’ manhandled and established opiates on African American men. In the wake of being put on an extensive preliminary, the officials were cleared of held tight their charges and never re-attempted.

As Rock Taylor, an establishing accomplice of the Individuals’ Law Office of Chicago, expresses: ‘These couple of cases address simply a glimpse of something larger when it includes bias or bigoted police brutality that has not brought about equivalent equity under the law.’ In 1994, after much open objection towards the fierce treatment shown by cops, the US Congress at last perceived that police savagery had expanded all through many pieces of the country. Congress passed the 42 U.S. Code and 14141-Reason for activity. This code gave more capacity to the Equity Division to document suits against police officers that occupied with an example or practice of unlawful lead. This Example and Practice Unit of the Equity Division was given the power (and from that point forward they have utilized this power for everyone’s benefit of society) to acquire wide-running court orders, assent announcements, and free screens to execute changes on those practices.

Albeit this Reason for Activity was carried out north of twenty years prior, police ruthlessness still vigorously exists today. A few specialists argue that police today are prepared to ‘shoot to kill’ and officials notoriety this case by saying that resistance from the speculates drives them to utilize power. One Official in the Washington Post let perusers know that ‘Assuming you would rather not have a chance, tased, pepper-splashed, hit with a stick or tossed to the ground, simply do what I tell you … Most field stops are finished in minutes. How troublesome is it to collaborate for that long?’ Others are requiring another law that ought to require cops and other law implementation specialists to wear individual cameras to ‘keep away from police offense and keep a more elevated level of responsibility’. Concentrates on where officials have been approached to wear cameras have really shown that the technique is very successful. A field investigation of the body-worn cameras on police in California brought about plunged measures of police severity when cops were recorded.

After any occurrence of police ruthlessness, there is a prompt and solid public clamor, including fights, protests, and outrage seethes that can cause obliteration. Anyway at times even in spite of this sort of shock, the policemen never genuinely get the equity they merit. As history of the battle against bigoted police savagery shows that public disturbance needs to proceed the country over with the end goal for a move to be made and results to be given. An interest in equity to be served should show a solid presence.

Police ruthlessness against racial gatherings in the US impacts the criminal equity framework in countless ways. The law requirement part of the framework has especially endured

maligning and public dissentient on the grounds that it is the best player in the bad habit that keeps on destroying the general public (Knott, 2015). Police divisions have lost their trust in the essence of residents, particularly the minority gatherings. This is obvious in urban areas where there is a high extent of minorities and the police power size. The fundamental disappointment, doubt, outrage, and struggle between law authorities and residents is the motivation behind why militarization of the police is being seen basically on the grounds that the criminal equity framework is quickly turning into a maltreatment-agreeable environment.

Police Brutality has brought so many different systemic changes to society and our country’s awareness of the racial disparities between people of color and non-color. There are multiple ways by which an individual can contribute towards accomplishing well-being value, working on the prosperity of networks of shading, expanding public usefulness, and making a more impartial society.

Join researchers to advocate for archiving police-related passings as notifiable conditions with the goal that general wellbeing offices can screen these passings.

Support calls for more joint efforts and organizations among networks, scientists, policymakers, and law authorization frameworks.

Find out with regards to how underlying prejudice and racial domination work inside foundations, strategies, and laws.

Despite your field of work, assess whether arrangements, laws, necessities, rules, and so forth, have unexpected contrary ramifications for ethnic minorities.

Also, assess whether they lopsidedly benefit white individuals and consider ways of making everything fair.

Advocate for and support criminal equity change, neutralization of police, and decriminalization of practices, for example, dillydallying and minor criminal traffic offenses, and finishing pause and search. Support developments like People of Color Matter that bring issues to light of police severity, and help uncover and destroy primary bigotry.

Recollect the names — individuals killed. His name was Jordan Edwards. He was 15. He was going out to party. Tomorrow his story might be supplanted in the information by another casualty; however, recollect his name. We as a society and a whole country have to do these things consistently in order to make a change and see steps to where we can move forward as one together. America has to fight for our human rights and to be treated fairly, and equally, It sounds cheesy but.. Treat others how you would want to be treated. Would you want me to be stepping on your neck because of your race? These things we can change as one society together but we all have to keep fighting to change this and learning something new every day.

Personally, when I approach these situations I always remember that this is a consistent fight and consistent actions we are taking as an African American woman. This means we have to do more research we have to get those petitions and raise money for our black communities and victims’ families etc.

After writing this, I am going to definitely be taking 10 more actions than I already was before, this is so sickening and I cannot stand to watch it happen anymore. America has to continue fighting for our rights and to continue speaking up don’t stay quiet.

Bibliography

1. A history of police violence in America. (n.d.). Stacker. https: stacker.comstories4365history-police-violence-America
2. The History of Police Brutality | It’s a Mad World. (2015). Psu.edu. https: sites. PSU.eduviolenceinamerica20150212the-history-of-police-brutality
3. Sirry Alang, Opinion contributor. (2017, May 12). How to dismantle racism and prevent police brutality. USA TODAY; USA TODAY. https:www.usatoday.comstoryopinionpolicing20170512how-dismantle-racism-and-prevent-police-brutality101481438

Persuasive Essay on Racial Profiling and Law Enforcement

According to the Fourth Amendment, police can wrongfully stop and detain an individual if they need an affordable suspicion that the person is doing, has done, or is near to doing against the law. Over the years, however, the department of local government has adopted a method that encourages cops to prevent and question principally minority voters initially and to return up with reasons for having done so later. This has resulted in folks in some neighborhoods being stopped while not reason lots of times a year. as a result officers’ area unit offered no clear parameters relating to the World Health Organization to prevent and frisk and the area unit was instead left to swear nearly entirely on their own judgment, implicit biases, which can be subconscious, have a profound impact on their decision-making.

Racial stereotypes subtly influence an officer’s call relating to whom to prevent and frisk. many studies can demonstrate that implicit bias affects somebody’s selections, even if they don’t have any aware bias toward a precise cluster. These studies will examine however the officer’s implicit bias toward African Americans will cause him to target African American suspects once considering crime and might influence the cop’s perception of whether a person is armed. once a large level of discretion is granted to officers, implicit biases can influence an officer’s call.

The Supreme Court established the initial parameters of stop and frisk in Terry v. Ohio (Schwartz). though several police departments before this call had used stop and frisk, its legal validity had been unestablished and untested. The Court was tasked with processing what recognized a stop and frisk (as hostile a tutelar arrest and full search), and if such a policy was subject to constraints beneath the Fourth modification. Established precedent and Constitutional interpretation relating to the Fourth Amendment had long commanded each search and/or seizure needed grounds, which needs that the officer possess a moderately high customary of proof that crime was afoot before being even to act (Laser, 1995).

In Terry, the Supreme Court broke with presiding precedent as it ruled stop and frisk did fall within the Fourth Amendment’s purview, but that the traditional Fourth Amendment protections did not apply. It lowered the requisite amount of suspicion necessary to perform a stop and frisk from probable cause to reasonable suspicion. They created a narrow caveat within the established Fourth Amendment doctrine, allowing a certain type of search and seizure to be exempt from the heightened scrutiny applied to its doctrinal counterparts. In July of 1999 10% of the African-American population in Tulia, Texas, a small town of 5,000 in the Texas Panhandle, was arrested on drug charges solely on the testimony of a single undercover officer.

The arrests of 46 people, 39 of them black, resulted in 38 convictions for various drug charges with sentences of up to 90 years in prison. In early April 2003, a Dallas judge threw out all 38 drug convictions from Tulia because they were based on questionable testimony from a single undercover agent accused of racial prejudice. On June 16, 12 of the defendants remaining in the case (most of the others accepted plea bargains in order to avoid lengthy prison sentences), were freed after Texas Gov. Perry signed a bill authorizing their release.

The officer responsible for the racially motivated arrests is Tom Coleman, a Texas cop with a checkered past and a self-declared fondness for racial epithets. At the time, Coleman was working for the Panhandle Regional Narcotics Task Force, one of an estimated 1,000 drug task forces operating across America with very little oversight or accountability. According to Randy Credico of the William Kunstler Fund for Racial Justice, which was instrumental in bringing Tulia to the public’s attention, ‘The Panhandle task force was the beneficiary of Coleman’s lies.

The more busts he made and the more convictions he helped win, the more federal grant money the task force received This is surprising since Coleman kept no written records, not a single photograph was taken, no video was shot, and no one observed his buys. Every ensuing conviction relied only on his word. According to the Court’s findings, Coleman submitted false reports, misrepresented his investigative work, and misidentified various defendants during his investigation.

A pilot removed an Arab American Secret Service agent from a flight on December 24 2001 when the agent was on his way to President Bush’s ranch in Crawford, Texas. The agent had asked the airline to call the Secret Service for verification, and even after the local transit police had affirmed his identity, the pilot still stopped him from boarding the flight, according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

An American Airlines spokesman claimed that the inconsistencies in the paperwork the agent filed were the pilot’s basis for removing the agent. American Airlines supported the pilot’s action and dismissed the suggestion that the removal was the result of racial profiling. The pilot released a statement saying that the agent was confrontational and abusive.

Federal Aviation Administration regulations allow a pilot to remove anyone from a flight on the ground of a security risk. However, the Department of Transportation has received about 20 complaints concerning the removal of passengers because of their religion and ethnicity. The agent has not ruled out the possibility of filing a lawsuit against American Airlines and has demanded an apology.

Now there is a big difference between racial profiling and good police just trying to do their jobs, but society and the media can twist things, unfortunately. Recently released data compiled by the Los Angeles Police Department as part of a federal consent decree show that the city’s officers are more likely to ask black and Latino drivers to step out of their cars after stopping them than their white counterparts. Once out of their cars, members of these minorities are more likely to be patted down or searched. The media will say the cops discriminate against minorities which in fact they don’t however the department does.

To compare stop, search, and arrest data to demographics, as cop critics would have us do, is absurd. The police don’t formulate their crime strategies based on census findings; they go where the crime is. For example, last year a man with a gold tooth was robbing and viciously beating up pedestrians in Mid-City. Victims identified him as either a dark-skinned Latino or a light-skinned African American. Accordingly, if an officer made a traffic stop in the area and noticed that the driver had a gold tooth and was black or Latino, the driver probably would have been asked to step out of his car, frisked, and possibly even taken to the station house for a line-up (Barron).

Stop and Frisk Racial Profiling Essay

Introduction

This paper will focus on racial inequality and policing, specifically the influence of race on Canadian police practices. The main argument in this paper suggests that race influences the practices of Canadian police, such that those who are visible minorities experience the most racially biased police practices. With a major focus on the lived experiences and interactions of visible minorities with Canadian police, this paper addresses the over-policing of Blacks predominantly, all while comparing the experiences of policing on visible minorities to non-visible minorities. In support of this argument, the following discusses how racial profiling of visible minorities can lead to the excessive use of police stop-and-search practices, carding, racial stereotypes, and a lack of confidence amongst groups classified as visible minorities by Canadian police. The evidence provided in the following also supports the argument that visible minorities, specifically African-diasporic individuals, experience the most racially biased police practices by focusing on 1) community policing amongst the youth of color, 2) stop-and-search practices amongst street life youths, 3) profiling minorities in White dominated/high crime neighborhoods, and 4) the outcomes of over-policing visible minorities. With the supporting evidence outlined, the following contribute to the main argument that the practices of Canadian police are racially biased and therefore heavily influenced by race.

Community Policing Amongst Youth of Color

Community policing amongst areas heavily concentrated on the youth of color demonstrates ways in which police practices are influenced by race. Community-level policing also demonstrates that some neighborhoods, more than others, are over-policed, such that we need to improve the trust, respect, self-preservation, and information-sharing levels among police-minority youth relations (Giwa et al. 218). As to what goes wrong in the relationship between police and youth of color, one can conclude that there is a lack of trust between the youth of color and police that needs to be strengthened, more community-based activities are needed, where both police and youth of color don’t feel a sense of threat to their safety, or reputation. Given this, issues faced today by youth of color surround the notion that building a relationship with the police labels one as a snitch or a rat by other community members (Giwa et al.). On the other hand, police actors believe there needs to be more cultural education, money, a dismantling of the culture of fear, and more outreach programs for older teens, in order to build a proper relationship amongst youth of color (Giwa et al.). From a cost-benefit analysis, both approaches are flawed, seeing as both youth of color and police actors are less inclined to build a relationship with each other seeing as this process has more costs than benefits. Further, most youth of color use a groupthink approach when addressing their views on building relationships with police actors, such that they view community policing as a practice that carries police stereotypes and prejudices against racial or ethnic minorities (Giwa et al. 226). With this mentality, it is hard to attain a proper relationship between police and youth of color without a lack of trust or transparency. However, if police and youth of color were to have a stronger relationship of trust, then community policing tactics could dismantle the notion of police actors using racial stereotypes and stigmatization to influence how they approach youth of color community members. By building a stronger police-youth of color relationship, we can have stronger communication, cooperation, sensitivity, and understanding between each other. This could simply be attained by talking to youth, making them feel understood, establishing an honest and transparent relationship, and finding a common ground (Giwa et al. 227). As conducted in a community-based survey, African-diasporic individuals, which are those who self-identify as African, Caribbean, or Black, outlined that their perceptions and experiences with police in Ontario, Canada were negative, such that their social environment and daily life interactions with police heavily relied on their race (Peirone et al. 365). Further, communities heavily concentrated with African-diasporic youth, state that their community or social environment contributed significantly to their interactions or perceived discrimination by police actors (Peirone et al. 347). With a specific focus on African-diasporic individuals, we see how such communities are over-policed and experience the most racially biased policing. By using a broken windows theory, it is argued that disorder in neighborhoods serves as a precursor for serious crime, whereas routine activities theory argues that the activities of daily life in certain neighborhoods are unsupervised, in which the opportunity for criminal activity is more likely (Peirone et al. 349). With both theories in mind, it is prevalent that community policing amongst youth of color is justified using this mentality, in which an increase in police presence or over-policing in disorderly neighborhoods is created as a result. Given the above claims, we can also use critical race theory to analyze community policing amongst youth of color and conclude that African-diasporic individuals, experience increased surveillance, over-policing, and increasing interactions with Canadian police than non-visible monitories, seeing as these communities face a higher risk of harm and criminal activity likelihood.

Stop-and-search practices Amongst Street Life Youths

As outlined by Meng (2017), the rates of stop-and-search practices by Toronto Police Services (TPS) amongst Black youth in Toronto, Canada are continuously increasing, whereas the rates amongst White youth are slowly decreasing (Meng 2017; 5). Moreover, police practices of stop-and-search, frisking, or carding are mostly used in areas where more white individuals reside or areas that have high rates of crime. Police practices of stop-and-search are becoming increasingly popular, in which the use of random stops and questioning of individuals in the streets is proactive and controversial. This practice is considered a way of deterring criminals from committing further offenses, but it is also a way in which certain bodies feel a sense of intrusiveness, harassment, and intimidation (Meng 2017; 6). The use of stop-and-search practices is also a form of racial profiling, seeing as Blacks are predominantly the ones exposed to excessive stop-and-search practices used amongst TPS. As a response, TPS has justified its use for stop-and-search practices predominantly amongst Black youths, seeing as this group is more likely to be involved in homicides or crimes involving drugs and firearms (Meng 2017; 6). It is also quite difficult to verify this claim outlined by TPS, seeing as the collection and release of race-based crime data is limited within Canada. Given this, we should not be inclined to rule out the possibility that stop-and-search practices used amongst predominantly Black youth are also a form of racial profiling and racially biased policing. As a result of stop-and-search, frisking, or carding practices used amongst Canadian police, this use of over-policing also creates distrust and non-compliance tactics used amongst predominantly visible minority groups. With a specific focus on Black Canadians, they view the police less positively than White Canadians do (Sprott and Doob 374). Likewise, other visible minority groups, such as Chinese Canadians and Aboriginal Canadians, rate Canadian police and their practices more negatively than Whites do. Given this, it is prevalent that the experiences of police stop-and-search, use of force, discretion, or carding practices amongst visible monitories vary across different racial groups, and severely depend on interpersonal interactions with police. Likewise, interactions with police amongst visible minorities also depend on place, seeing as racial and cultural groups are not equally distributed across Canada (Sprott and Doob 375). Having said that, when looking at the interactions and use of stop-and-search practices by police amongst visible minorities, it is also key to consider both time and place, seeing as racial and cultural groups vary depending on both time and place. Likewise, consensus theory argues that visible minority street life youths are overly exposed to stop-and-search practices, seeing as this group of individuals is heavily inclined to engage in illegal behaviors that offend society (Hayle et al. 324). Further, if society upholds a consensus that one should not violate societal values, such that certain individuals pose a threat or risk of harm to such values or goals, then they should be put through whatever means possible to reduce this risk of harm, in which stop-and-search practices is a possible outcome of such consensus.

Profiling Minorities in white-dominated/High Crime Neighborhoods

Racially profiling minorities in white-dominated or high-crime neighborhoods is also a key factor in how race influences police practices. By using a functionalist perspective to justify the profiling of minorities in high-crime neighborhoods, one would argue that police impose criminal sanctions on those that conflict with society’s moral code, such that those who disrupt social harmony and create disequilibrium should be policed, especially within high crime neighborhoods (Hayle et al. 324). From a conflict theory perspective, profiling minorities in white-dominated or high-crime neighborhoods is seen as a way in which certain bodies use their resources or power to exploit those viewed as less powerful or those lacking certain resources (Hayle et al. 325). By using this framework, we see that visible minorities, with a specific focus on Blacks, are over-policed in white-dominated or high-crime neighborhoods because they’re perceived as a dangerous group as a whole, rather than simply responding to individual criminal behaviors. As a result of this, profiling minorities in white-dominated or high-crime neighborhoods has exploited certain members of society and labeled them as properties of the police, such that this police practice is an open expression of oppression towards certain minority bodies within a community. Likewise, Black individuals in Canada predominately experience racial profiling at the hands of the police, seeing as Whites in certain neighborhoods carry more dominant interests and pose less of a threat to the social order statistically, in which Blacks are then treated as the repressed group and racially profiled. Profiling of minorities in white-dominated or high-crime neighborhoods also gives rise to the use of biases in police practices, in which visible minorities are overly exposed to severe racial profiling. As a result, this form of racially biased policing is not only a racist practice, but it subjects a particular ethnic-racial group to over-surveillance and policing compared to non-racialized groups (Reasons et al. 80). Further, it is believed that most minority neighborhoods are heavily concentrated with criminal activity, such that police tend to over-police racial minorities in predominantly white and wealthy neighborhoods due to this preconceived knowledge, and as a result racial stereotypes are held against visible minorities (Meng 2014; 7). Therefore, in areas that are not heavily racialized or disadvantaged, such as white-dominated neighborhoods, there is a heavy police presence and over-policing when there is a presence of visible minorities, due to police practices of racial profiling. Having said that, it is prevalent that profiling minorities in white-dominated or high-crime neighborhoods is heavily reliant on neighborhood characteristics, such as racial and socio-economic dimensions, and one cannot fully examine the use of racially biased policing without considering such neighborhood characteristics.

The Outcomes of Over-Policing Visible Minorities

It is also important to discuss the major outcomes of over-policing visible minorities, in order to fully analyze how race influences police practices. Racially biased policing amongst visible minorities creates an over-policing environment, in which the use of force, discretion, or use of stop-and-search or carding practices stem from subjective perceptions or biased personal knowledge, and as a result, this influences police actors’ interactions with visible minorities (Meng 2014; 6). Further, with police actors’ knowledge or interaction with suspects, crimes, and high-crime neighborhoods, they therefore have more knowledge than the average person as to how race may play a role in the threat or risk of harm to society. Given this, when police actors are given too much discretion at an individual officer level, such that they abuse this discretion, this may result in visible racial minorities experiencing excessive use of police stop-and-search or carding practices in particular neighborhoods (Meng 2014; 6). With a specific focus on African-diasporic individuals, we can therefore see how the outcomes of over-policing such individuals single out, and create negative perceptions of this specific group, in which this perception may influence not only how police actors view African-diasporic individuals, but how society as a whole may view visible minorities. Another outcome of over-policing visible minority groups is the notion that specific racial groups within society may hold negative perceptions of the police and their practices, which then creates a lack of trust in police-visible minority relationships. Further, a lack of trust between police and visible minorities may lead to a lack of public confidence in Canadian police as a whole and a promotion of non-compliance tactics. Through the use of non-compliance tactics, visible minorities are more inclined to develop a code of the street mentality and trust their own peers, rather than cooperate or comply with police actors. Another outcome of over-policing visible minorities gives rise to the levels of misconduct within police agencies, especially in the practices of Canadian police. Further, such misconduct gives rise to the lack of diversity prevalent amongst police force institutions, in which members who play an important role in society should be representatives of society and impose the law on all citizens, no matter what race one is (Syed 101). Given the use of over-policing predominantly amongst African-diasporic youth, such members express their displeasure with police and their practices, such that some feel as if police actors abuse their power, and are at times too aggressive when policing visible minorities, especially when certain bodies do not align with a certain community’s dominant social values, or norms/goals (Syed 101). Evidently, over-policing visible minorities can also be easily mistaken as police actors abusing their powers, such that African-diasporic members in society express that police abuse their powers at the cost of their own lives and freedom. Further, African-diasporic citizens, such as Black, Caribbean, or African individuals, describe their experiences of over-policing as a form of racial profiling, obstruction of justice, differential treatment, and a practice where police are over-aggressive and abusing their role in society (Syed 107). Likewise, youth who identify as visible minorities express that their interactions with over-policing have always been a negative experience that creates negative perceptions, and overgeneralizations of the police force institution as a whole. As an example, visible minority youth find that their experiences with Southern Ontario police were heavily concentrated with aggressive, young, White, male officers who continuously rely on negative stereotypes of Blacks when interacting with visible minorities as a whole, in which African-diasporic bodies are oftentimes grouped into one racial category and overly-exposed to police misconduct (Syed 113).

Conclusion

In conclusion, this paper outlines the impact of race on policing experiences. It investigates whether the practices and strategies of Canadian police deliver treatment and services that produce racially biased inequalities towards African-diasporic individuals. By looking at aspects of community policing amongst youth of color, stop-and-search practices amongst street life youths, profiling minorities in white-dominated/high-crime neighborhoods, and the outcomes of over-policing visible minorities, one can conclude that there is racial inequality in policing.