Literature Review On Racial Profiling

Weitzer is able to illuminate how there is a correlation between poverty and crime, “an interaction between (1) high neighborhood-level poverty and unemployment, (2) residents’ involvement in illicit survival strategies […], and (3) aggressive police practices – each of which contributes to popular alienation from and avoidance of the police, if not outright hostility toward them. This syndrome is more fundamental than the popular assertion that officers’ racial animus is the main problem.” (477). Because high crime areas have such a strong dislike and mistrust for the police, answering some calls become dangerous for the responding officers. While answering these calls officers become more alert and anxious. Most of the time when an officer makes an arrest or discharges his/her weapon it has nothing to do with race but it has everything to do with the crime.

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.

Several law enforcement agencies have gone through expensive litigation over civil rights concerns. Police-citizen relations in those communities have been strained, making policing more challenging. Most importantly, racial profiling is unlikely to be an effective policing strategy as criminals can simply shift their activities outside the profile (e.g., if racial profiling begins with police stopping black males in their teens and twenties for being drug carriers, criminals may start using other demographic groups — such as Hispanics, children or the elderly — to move drugs). Despite training to avoid discrimination, officers may still rely on cultural stereotypes and act on their perceptions of a person 's characteristics (such as age, race or gender)” (National Institute of Justice, 2013). Either way, there must be adequate training to prevent certain actions from occurring by the police.

It seemed like this influence has spread and now people are attacking the minority group. Racial profiling can become a problem one day, maybe be a threat to anyone moving to a new place. The society could use the End Racial Profiling Act as a way to stop this unethical way of catching criminals. We can also abolish the practices and influences that people give to start racial profiling. Racial profiling has also taken time away from law enforcement.

The perceived unconventional nature of such expressions is paired with “blackness” and it is unjustifiably associated with criminality. In fact, the term “bruthas” which means black males is used to show that such individuals cannot drive freely (Sundiata 49). Therefore, part of the connotations are used to capture some of the unfounded ideologies used to categorize black men as dangerous or criminals, and this reinforces the message that there is need to look beyond surface-level perceptions in order to overcome

Police officers are being prejudice and discriminating just like the other people in True Colors. They are going based off the media and making their own judgments about them. The article shows that prejudice and discrimination still exist. Based on the information, have prejudice and discrimination changed in the past few decades? Be specific in your analysis and provide examples from the film to support your

Racial profiling has had great effects on African American communities all over the US. Victims of racial profiling incidents and people who have witnessed have begun to fear and hate the police when they should be trusting that they are there to keep them safe. Many incidents have occured in the US where unarmed black individuals have been brutally killed by the hands of white police or have been pulled over when driving because they have commited the crime of “driving while black”, which in today's world has become something that African Americans have to fear because of the likeliness of them being pulled over by police, because of their racial bias towards them. “Driving while black” is something that black families tell their kids to be careful of at a young age because of their own experiences with police. In between 2007-2010, people of colored skin accounted for 75 percent of the people stopped by Boston police and 65 percent of them were black in a city whose population was made up of 25 percent African Americans at that time.

Throughout history, the legitimacy of police violence has long been associated with its effectiveness and credibility towards the public eye. While most may configure that crime must be dealt accordingly, the vast number of those affected have expressed otherwise. Known for its discrimination and excessive use of force, the LAPD has always developed a sense of backlash within its social barriers. African Americans, in particular, have often opposed its methods of convention through signifying their own lack of protection and safety. Moreover, the officer’s lack of judgment of when to react in certain scenarios often poses a risk to those who have not experienced such brutality.

Judges, prosecutors, public defenders and the police, while all working to ensure the safety of the public, have conflicting priorities. The police have the incentive to make countless arrests, increasing their arrest rate by aggressively pursuing minor crimes with poor evidence, fabricating stories to discredit the offender and deny the victims. Similarly, the prosecutors have the incentive to convict the defendants brought to them by the police, which is made infinitely more difficult by the influx of weak cases they receive. In the case of the Central Park Five, the moment the DNA evidence was discovered to not match the boys’, the investigation should have been stopped, or at least paused, and moved in a different direction; it is highly improbable that the boys did not leave a single track on the scene, and equally, or more, improbable that the scene did not leave a single trace on them. However, even with the lack of matching DNA evidence, the boys were still convicted of the crime; they had confessed to the crime.

But today, police officers can justify their killing as proper law enforcements. They can explain they also kill white, Asian or Hispanic if there is fierce resistance from criminals or suspects. The stronger opposition against racism gets, the subtler racism becomes. People can experience racism from unknown online, with another reason or by an unacceptable standard as mentioned above. That is why people still try to exclude

Some people may not know that racial profiling has been a problem in the United States. Often people think racial profiling most likely began in the 1990’s because of the news reports of African Americans being profiled. For example, “Driving while black”. According to the West Encyclopedia, "The most common form of racial profiling occurs when police stop, question, and search African American, Hispanic American, or members of other racial minorities disproportionately based solely on the individuals ' race or ethnicity". Racial profiling often happens because some police officers target people based on their

Blacks are the number one race that is being killed by police officers; the numbers of the killings are drastically high. Although policemen have very difficult jobs, they were the ones that agreed to take on the responsibility, this comes with sticking to the laws; they must not allow personal beliefs to get in the way of the law. However, many police officers let their personal beliefs (some being of racism) get the best of them, this has become a problem, ACLU stated that, “Although some police officials are still in denial, we have presented strong and compelling evidence, of both an anecdotal and statistical nature, that racial profiling on our nation 's roads and highways is indeed a nationwide problem” (Harris).

The issue of racial profiling has been called to national attention recently resulting in inefficient policing due to high tensions between law enforcement officials and minority races. The American justice system must take the initiative to end the improper treatment and wrongful deaths of people of

Racial and ethnic profiling in our society is an ineffective method of crime prevention and it is harmful to the individual by degrading them their human rights as an individual. When a person is profiled due to their race or ethnicity it is unjust and the victim is having their rights and liberty interests taken away from them because individuals are being targeted based on their skin color and ethnicity. They are targeted to being involved in criminal activities and are therefore stopped and searched not for any criminal reasons but due to their race. As stated by the BC Civil Liberties Association, “Communities that are subjected to racial profiling are unfairly over-policed, unjustly scrutinized and disproportionately represented in the criminal justice system. Racial profiling is the product of stereotyping of radicalized communities and it fuels further stereotyping.

A functionalist studies society as a whole and with racial profiling in New York and other cities it causes a big dilemma. In order for there to be change the judicial branch needs to decide if random stop and frisk (mainly targeted towards minorities) is constitutional. Not only does it degrade that person but it also violates the person’s right of being treated with equality. The reason why cops racially profile black people or minorities is because of their material and non-material culture. When cops see a black man wearing a hoodie their minds are already wondering what is he up