Problems with Minorities and Community Policing - Essay Example

Investigating Problems with Minorities and Community Policing There are numerous problems between the police and minority communities here in North Carolina as well as throughout the United States. Importantly, there are numerous issues that can help account for the often-strained relationship between minority communities and the police services. Accordingly, problems between minority groups in this country and the police services are well documented and include racial profiling, a lack of diversity within police services, issues surrounding accountability as well as racial bias among the police service. The intersection between race and the criminal justice system is important and the remains the focus of this assignment. How can we investigate problems between minorities and police services? Importantly, what is the nature and extent of the problems between the police and minority communities? How widespread are the problems and for whom are these issues problematic? Aiming to be both descriptive and prescriptive, the following will explore what has been done regarding this problem, and whether or not the innovations were effective? Finally, what are the possible solutions to the present problems between police and minority communities? Seeking to address these questions as they pertain to the issue of minorities within the United States and their relationship to the police services, the following will provide a thorough analysis of a complex phenomenon (Skogan, 2003). Key Issues The United States of America boasts the highest incarceration rates on the planet, even higher than places such as China, Iran or Russia. According to a report released by the Pew Center for Research on the United States, nearly one in 100 persons in the United States is incarcerated (2008). Accordingly, the state of California alone spends $8.8 billion annually on incarceration costs and while the statistics above are, remarkable, so too are the racial disparities within the American penal system. Accordingly, while African-Americans account for just 13% of the total population, their incarceration rates are much higher than for all other ethnic groups. With nearly 50% of the total prison population in the United States, African-Americans account for a disproportionate number of inmates in this country. Importantly, it is estimated that African-Americans have a 16% risk of going to prison in their lifetime, compared to a 2% risk for whites. According to scholar Scot Wortley, “blacks are still 2 times more likely to experience a stop by police and four times more likely to experience both. They are also 7 times more likely to experience an ‘unfair stop’; importantly, age and social class do not protect blacks from police stops” (Tator & Henry, 200, 66). How do racial profiling and racism within the police services account for these worrying statistics (Pew Center, 2008)? Racial profiling and the existence of racially biased officers within the police force are important issues in United States and can help account for the significant issues facing minority communities in their interactions with the police services. Some argue that racial profiling is prevalent and that certain groups such as blacks, natives, Asians and other groups are more likely to be pulled over by police or to be stopped and searched. Statistics on racial profiling in the United States appear to be far more accessible than in many other countries and the issue of racial profiling has recently garnered much attention due to a media focus on the issue. Discrimination in the police services represents a social inequality issue, with numerous social ramifications including increased police stops, arrests and incarcerations. According to the United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights, racial profiling is defined as “as "the practice of police and other law enforcement officers relying, to any degree, on race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin as the basis for subjecting persons to investigatory activities or for determining whether an individual is engaged in criminal activity" (Tator & Henry, 2006, 4). Although many would like to think that racial profiling is a thing of the past, the issue of racial profiling by police services was brought to the fore of international media attention with the arrest of African-American Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Junior. His arrest was quite controversial and was predicated on the fact that Prof. Henry Gates was arrested outside his own home after a neighbor called and said that an African-American male was attempting to break into the home. When the police arrived, Prof. Gates stated that he was he ordered the property and accuse the police officers on hand of racism he was arrested and the issue of his arrest garnered incredible media attention. President Obama did garner significant controversy for weighing into the matter and he eventually invited both the arrested African-American professor and the arresting White officer to the White House for beer to settle the matter. While the president sought to resolve the controversial issue, racial profiling remains an important issue in the United States as well as around the world. What are the other issues facing minority communities in the United States? (Jones-Brown & Terry, 2003). A lack of diversity and police accountability are two more important issues affecting minority communities in the United States. Accordingly, the schism, which presently exists between minority groups and the police services can be explained by a lack of diversity within police services as well as questions surrounding police accountability in the twenty-first century. As those who are entrusted by the state to uphold the law, police must remain reflective of the population they seek to serve. Importantly, many police forces can be characterized by a lack of officer diversity and this has an important impact on how police deal with certain communities. If police officers are not reflective of the communities that they seek to serve, they may rely on personal bias/stereotypes or cultural misconceptions in their dealings with certain cultural communities. As we shall see, diversity programs and hiring practices that promote diversity within the police services can provide solutions to some of the issues facing police and minority communities in the United States. Police accountability is an important issue in light of the high profile instances of alleged police misconduct, abuse of authority and brutality. While instances of police overstepping their bounds and engaging in unlawful behavior is most frequently associated with the United States and instances such as the Rodney King beating which precipitated the Los Angeles riots of the 1990s, unlawful behavior by police officers is found throughout the world. Police misconduct can include a variety of instances of abuse of authority such as false arrests, corruption, intimidation and racial profiling amongst others. Often, the perception among minority groups is that the police are the law unto themselves and are not accountable. Importantly, addressing police brutality through accountability mechanisms can do much to improve minority perceptions about the legitimacy of the police force (Weitzer & Tuch, 2006). How widespread are the problems addressed above and for whom are these issues problematic? As the statistics at the outset of this paper demonstrate, there is a significant racial disparity in incarceration rates for African-Americans in this country. Importantly, African-Americans are 800% more likely than whites to be incarcerated in their lifetime in the United States and this represents a significant challenge with respect to equality and inclusion within the criminal justice system. As the statistics demonstrate, racial profiling is a feature of the existence of many minority groups in the United States. While African-Americans have much higher reported incarceration rates than other minority groups, Native Americans, Asians, Hispanics and other minority groups have experienced challenges within the criminal justice system. Importantly, it would be fair to say that all minority groups have experienced many of the issues explored above. Importantly, racial profiling is predicated on the assumption that certain groups are more likely to be involved in criminal behavior than others and is inherently based upon prejudging certain types of individuals. In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11th, groups such as Arabs and American Muslims have reported increased scrutiny and racial profiling at the hands of the law enforcement officials. Importantly, racial profiling has been said to have increased in the aftermath of 9/11 and has been undertaken by traditional police services as well as border guards. This represents other ethnic communities which have encountered problems with the police services and the criminal justice system in recent time (Bahdi, 2003). While the racial profiling of Arabs and others has reportedly increased in recent time, certain visible minority groups remain targets for racially-motivated policing. Accordingly, being pulled over for being black, also known informally as “DWB” – driving while black - is an issue which is frequently described by blacks in the United States as being an insidious aspect of racism in the 21st century. When one is singled out for being a member of a minority group and are subject to increased police scrutiny due to nothing else than the fact that they are a visible minority, the charge of racism is one which is leveled against law enforcement officers. If racial disparities do exist within law enforcement, differential treatment the criminal justice process can lead to increased incidences of arrest and incarceration. In the criminal justice process which is upon the belief that all are equal before the law, racial profiling discredits law-enforcement as well as the criminal justice system. What has been done to address this issue? (Weitzer & Tuch, 2006) Interventions How can we address racism and discrimination within the police services? Importantly, issues surrounding racial profiling, racially biased officers, a lack of diversity within police departments as well as police accountability concerns, are incredibly complex issues that are not easily solved. Attempts at addressing concerns surrounding racially biased officers include racial sensitivity programs, increased representation of visible minority groups within the officer corps prohibitions on illegal search and seizure, police accountability mechanisms and community outreach programs targeted at specific cultural communities. First and foremost law enforcement agencies must acknowledge that racial profiling does exist and must take steps in order to combat this insidious form of racism in American society. Accordingly, the first step entails the acknowledgment of a problem and until that happens little will be done to address important issues voiced by visible minority and aboriginal communities in this country. Right now, there is not universal consensus that discrimination is a legitimate concern and something which exists among the US police services. In order to address the issues surrounding racism and discrimination, police services can do more to reach out to specific minority communities in an important way in which police services can do so will be to provide sensitivity training to its officers. While sensitivity training may help police officers better understand the various concerns of nonwhite groups in society, anti-racism policies need to be implemented in order for this training to be effective. In addition to acknowledging the issue, providing sensitivity training to its officer corps and implementing anti-racism policies throughout the police services, law enforcement agencies throughout this country should implement affirmative action hiring policies which aim to increase the numbers of visible minorities within Canadian police services. Thus, police services for this country should undertake a hiring drive to increase the representation of nonwhite police officers in this country. This can be done by reaching out to virtual communities, both in urban centers as well as in rural communities as well as increasing the representation of blacks, Asians and other groups within the police services. Accordingly, positive discrimination may be necessary to ensure that certain groups within society, such as blacks, Asians or Muslims, are more proportionally represented within the police services. Furthermore, the Canadian federal government can attempt to streamline the process to address when cases are racial profiling exists. Presently, the current system in place leaves it up to the individual states to handle complaints and to deal with them as they see fit. To some, racism does not exist and is something which is a figment of in the minds of nonwhites in this country. This is where the problem lies. That acknowledgement that racism, racial profiling and discrimination do exist within this country is the first step in tackling it. Following this, the onus is upon the police services throughout this country to respond to the criticisms that it faces through a variety of initiatives. Only then, can discrimination be addressed in by police services in this country (Tator & Henry, 2006; Weitzer & Tuch, 2006). To date, some of the interventions mentioned above have been effective but much work needs to be done in order to ensure that racism and race-based discrimination becomes a thing of the past for police services in this country. Importantly, there remain significant disparities with respect to the treatment of non-white groups with the police service context. These problems need to be addressed in order to ensure that the principles of equality, enshrined in the American notions of jurisprudence, are applied uniformly by those who are hired with the task of upholding the law. The interventions above should be implemented so that the criminal justice system in this country becomes truly colorblind (Tator & Henry, 2006). Concluding Remarks The United States is a multicultural country and the criminal justice system should serve all Americans, irrespective of race or national background. Charges of racism and discrimination within the police service industry hark back to the days when the United States was far less diverse this today. Accordingly, significant minority groups within society have been disproportionately targeted by police services and statistics in emphatically demonstrate that racism is issue in the 21st century. Certain groups, such as blacks, aboriginals and Asians are more likely to be stopped by police services and statistics show that racial profiling does exist. Importantly, racial discrimination for some groups has increased in the post 9/11 period and Arabs and Muslim report instances of increased scrutiny from both the public as well as from the criminal justice system. Accordingly, Muslims and Arabs in this country have faced increased discrimination from the regular police services as well as from border patrols. This is unfortunate and particularly insidious in light of the fact that the United States has always maintained itself as a beacon of multiculturalism and tolerance throughout the world. Americans deserve a colorblind criminal justice system and the following has provided an introduction to the complex issues surrounding race and the criminal justice system in this country. Aiming to be both descriptive and prescriptive, this essay has explored how this country can overcome the numerous hurdles it continues to face regarding minorities and community policing. Only by understanding that significant challenges do exist can we start to tackle them. References “1 in 100”. (2008). Pew Center for Research on the United States. New York: Pew Center Publications. Bahdi, R. (2003). ‘No Exit: Racial Profiling and the War Against Terrorism.’ Osgoode Hall Law Journal, 294-316. Jones-Brown, D.D & K. J. (2003). Terry. Policing and Minority Communities. New York: Prentice Hall. Skogan, W.G. (2003). Community Policing: Can it work? New York: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning. Tator, C & Henry, F. (2006). Racial Profiling. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Weitzer, R.J. & S. A. Tuch. (2006). Race and Policing in America. London: Cambridge University Press. Read More