Despite claims by some that civil rights for racial minorities have been fully achieved in the United States, racial disparities in the criminal justice process remain and appear to be expanding (Leadership Conference on
CivilRights,2001).Racialdisparitiesexistateachphaseofcriminaljustice
processing, and it is the police who are the gatekeepers to that process
(Barlow & Barlow, 2000; Chambliss, 2001; Cole, 1999; Mauer, 1999;
Miller, 1996). As a result of decades of Supreme Court decisions limiting restrictions on law enforcement, police have tremendous discretion with respecttosearchandseizureinthecontextoftrafficstops(see,forexample, Maryland v. Wilson
, 1997;
NewYork v. Belton
, 1981;
Ohio v. Robinette
,
1996;
Pennsylvania v. Mimms
, 1977;
United States
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In a cultural diversity awareness training class for police officers conducted by one of the authors, a police officer explained why he stops Black people who are driving through his suburban community even though it makes him uncomfortable. Although most officers presumably justify their stops based on presumed criminality, this officer stated that he
Barlow, Barlow / RACIAL PROFILING: A SURVEY 337 stops and questions African Americans because it is precisely what his supervisors want him to do. He stated, “When someone from a $350,000 home calls the police and wants us to stop someone, we are going to do it and the chief is going to make sure we do it.” The officer went on to ask,
“Now, how do I stop that person without him thinking I’m a racist?”
As long as the courts do not take an active role in putting a stop to this practice or at least make it uncomfortable for them, police will continue to feelthatitiscondoned.Racialprofilingisnotacaseofafewbadapplesor rogue cops. It is a systematic strategy, often rationalized by a false belief thatracialminoritiesaremorecriminalandmorelikelytouseillegaldrugs than White people. Some police officers defend racial profiling,
Racism and racial discrimination has been a major issue in the U.S. since the colonial periods, where people have been treated differently only based upon their race. Although the civil rights movement opposed racial discrimination, the act of stereotyping individuals still continues till this day. Racial profiling by law enforcement is commonly defined as a practice that targets people for suspicion of crime based on their race, religion or national origin. A recent case, involving a young black man named Michael Brown is an example of how a police officer may act differently when facing an African American. “Ferguson Grand Jury Evidence Reveals Mistakes, Holes In Investigation” is an article written by Jason Cherkis’s and published on November
Researchers and Black people are not the only ones who recognize that racial profiling is a problem — even some government organizations do. A page on the National Institute of Justice’s website admits, “people of color are more often stopped than whites” (National Institute of Justice). Clearly, racial profiling by police officers is an existing issue and something must be done to put an end to this horrible practice. Fortunately, there are several methods for how police departments can reduce racial profiling against Black
In the reading “The Consequences of the Criminal Justice Pipeline on Black and Latino Masculinity by. Victor M. Rios an assistant professor of sociology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is a former gang member and juvenile ward. In the text it was mentioned that people become who they are based on how they are expected to be in society based on their gender. Such as being a male and being tuff, emotionless etc.
“Racial profiling is a highly salient issue in black communities” (Wilkins and Williams, 2008, pg. 654). Consequently, police officers racial profiling has diminished the relationship with minorities and “communities in the coproduction of public safety and order” (Wilkins and Williams, 2008, pg. 655). In their study, Wilkins and Williams (2008) found that for each month in 2000, the data yield a sample size of 96 in the difference between the percentage of stops in the division consisting a black driver and the percentage of the black driving-age population (pg. 658). For example, in May 2000, the data yield 7% of the vehicle stops in the Northern division involved black drivers, while only 1% of the driving-eligible population in that division was black, in which producing a racial disparity measure of 6% for that month (pg. 658). Based on the finding, Wilkins and Williams determined that the structure and processes of an organization can affect the representation provided by the bureaucrats working there.
Racial profiling by law enforcement is an overwhelmingly useless and prevalent expression of hate and ignorance to this day. Internationally, a wide variation of races are unrightfully discriminated against by the enforcements who are supposedly there to protect them. Jim Crow policing is an issue that undoubtedly continues, no matter the amount of riots or unjustly arrested/ murdered civilians. Cases like Trayvon Martin, and Mike Brown, as well as Bob Herbert 's article Jim Crow Policing published in the New York Times, February 2nd 2010, explain first hand accounts and statistics to give examples of the fact that racial profiling from the police force consistently takes place.
"Racial Profiling and Criminal Justice." The Journal of Ethics, vol. 15, no. 1-2, 2011. , pp. 79-88. Nclive, doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10892-010-9098-3.
Since the nature of the; law enforcement frequently requires the police officers to make snap judgments about the danger posed subjects and the criminal nature of their activity, subconscious racial associations influence the way officers perform their job” (Racial Disparities: U.S. Criminal Justice System). Racially profiling people started very recently; the police racially profiling people and arresting them, thus destroys the belief of “innocent until proven guilty” in which is embedded in the U.S. Criminal Justice
Aboriginal people continue to be victimized and incarcerated at much higher rates than non-Aboriginal people. The overrepresentation of Canadian Aboriginal people in the criminal justice system is a question that has not yet been answered. This research paper will focus on the risk factors experienced by many Aboriginal people, residential school experiences, and institutional racism, and their roles in the overrepresentation of Canadian Aboriginal people in the criminal justice system. The Canadian government system has tried to deal with this issue, but looking at the high rates of overrepresentation, there approach has not been successful.
In this process, it shows how social science research and policy analysis may be more fully than the police investigation so far practice their fair meaning. " Simply put, the debate about race analysis about whether officials could legitimately consider a person's race or ethnicity as a debate, they decide whether to stop or search for the person. Those who defended racial profiling began to think, Sadly, many types of crime are more concentrated in certain racial and ethnic groups are more effective than others in 1995 Tonry), and this fact means that racial profiling can often help the police against them monitor (2001 Derby). But even if the relevant distribution experience in criminal claims are true, it is impossible to solve the ethical
Racial profiling is used as a precaution to prevent potential greater dangers. The principal responsibility of any police officer is to keep communities safe. Police officers regard racial profiling as a form of “common sense generalizing", they “routinely judge the likelihood of the threat and act accordingly”. For example, if a cop receives a report of an armed robbery with no further information, the cop will utilize all the slight and indirect indications to come to a conclusion. The suspects are a 60-year-old nun and a black male with 50 speeding tickets.
Throughout history, disputes and tensions between law enforcement officials and communities of minorities have endured hostility and violence between each other. Racial profiling has become a “hot topic” for researchers as well as for politicians and by now it is likely that most citizens are at least aware of the common accusations of racial bias pitted against law enforcement (Cochran & Warren, 2013). Communities of color are being discriminated against and racially profiled by white police officers for any suspicion of criminal activities. It has been widely assumed by policy makers and citizens alike that allegations of racial profiling are mostly associated with the policing practices of white officers and their treatment of racial and ethnic minorities (Cochran & Warren, 2013). Also, individuals of minority descent will certainly recognize that they are being racially profiled during a stop that is being conducted by a white police officer.
One of the greatest challenges law enforcement are facing is providing effective policing for minority communities. Some factors that prevent minorities from gaining access to justice or being taken advantage of certain criminal justice services are language barriers, racial stereotyping, and cultural differences. Since the 30 's and 40 's, and even during the 60 's, civil rights activists damaged the police-minority relations in the United States, believing that police only interest are protecting white communities. A big explanation of why there 's a poor police-minority relations in the United States is racism on the part of the individual officers. Many minorities in the United States have continued to complain about being treated more harshly than whites and the Department of Justice believes that racial profiling and police discrimination will continue to be a big problem.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, departments that serve less than 2,500 people are 84.4% white and departments that serve millions are 53.4% white (as cited in Fifield, 2016). Notably, Over the years, a lack of diversity within law enforcement has become a pertinent issue. Notably, the underrepresentation of minorities within law enforcement influences the relationship between communities and law enforcement by engendering distrust with law enforcement. To say nothing of, underrepresentation of minorities have had many people question whether departments mirror a diverse community. Nevertheless, with that being said, underrepresentation of minorities have generated tension and distrust between communities and law enforcement and many believe that police department need to mirror the race composition within their cities.
There are three components that make up the criminal justice system – the police, courts, and correctional facilities – they all work together in order to protect individuals and their rights as a citizen of society to live without the fear of becoming the victim of a crime. Crime, simply put is when a person violates criminal law; the criminal justice system is society’s way of implementing social control. When all three components of the criminal justice work together, it functions almost perfectly. For a person to enter the criminal justice system, the process must begin with the law enforcement.
Over the past three and a half years I have spent my life studying in school. I have studied for hours and hours about the field of criminal justice; the reason it exists, its history and development, theories that are used to explain topics in criminal justice, and cases that have been monumental in changing the way that criminal justice works. While all of these are great to learn about the field of criminal justice itself cannot be learned from reading textbooks and memorizing theories. This is why I am interested in an internship with the Griffin Police Department. I want to learn how the criminal justice system is in action, how things actually play out outside of the scholastic setting.