In 2012, reports found that the US police were vastly disproportionate in the number of racial minorities killed. The population of African Americans in the US is 13%, whereas the Latino population is 17%. Even so, 31% of the African American population are killed by the police, which is disproportionate in comparison to the 17% of Latinos that are killed. The US is one of the few countries in which the right to bear arms is constitutionally protected, however among most developed nations, the US is by far the most violent, majorly due to the easy access to firearms. Thus, my presentation will be exploring: what are the security implications behind the disproportionate use of hard power by authorities on minorities? This case study thus focuses on the global challenge of security, as it directly explores the role and function of authorities protecting communities against individual threats.
In order to show the clear implications behind this use of hard power, we must look at policing from two different perspectives. From a public initiated encounters with the police and a police initiated encounters. Police initiated encounters meaning stops and searches as well as decisions to arrest and charge. A study showed how on the basis of pre existing beliefs about their supposed criminality, black people were subject to extraordinary policing, and
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The Immigration Act of 1971 gave the police and immigration authorities a considerable amount of power to hold and question people who were suspected of being in breach of immigration law such as entering illegally. An Institute of Race Relations report concluded that police officers demonstrated little regard for the civil liberties of minorities. It described racially abusive questioning, violence on arrest and unnecessary armed raids as forms of
While advocates of stand your ground believe that it is empowering to people and is an enhancement of safety rights, critics believe that it can often be used as a racially motivated infringement on civil rights. A study of the racial and violent impacts of stand your ground at Texas A&M University found that murder increased by up to 8% in states that had adopted Stand your Ground laws. The conclusion was made that the implementation of these laws was a possible cause of increased homicide rates in these states. The increase in lethal force became seen as an inevitable effect of the stand your ground laws. Based on FBI crime statistics, it is more likely for white people’s actions to be found justifiable in the killing of a black person than it is for the case of black people killing white people.
“...Much of the recent crime increase threatens the vitality of America’s cities–and thousands of lives–it is not, in itself, the greatest danger in today’s war on cops. The greatest danger lies, rather, in the delegitimation of law and order itself’ (Mac Donald). In the book “The War on Cops: How the New Attack on Law and Order Makes Everyone Less Safe,” published in the year of 2016, author Heather Mac Donald provides credible evidence to expand on her viewpoint of our country’s current criminal crisis. In addition to “The War on Cops, Mac Donald has written two other books. Her works “Are Cops Racist?”
James Queally and Joe Mozingo on the article “Feds fault San Francisco police for violence against minorities and recommend 272 reforms” explains how law enforcement is racially biased towards minorities. Queally and Mozingo support their claim by mentioning the rise of police brutality against Blacks and Latinos and describing the type slurs used when law enforcement are referring to minorities amongst their fellow colleague. The authors’ purpose is to show the reader the type of way law enforcement is unfair to people of color and different cultures. The authors write in a serious tone to those seeking to end police brutality.
Buehler, J. W. (2017). Racial/ethnic disparities in the use of lethal force by US police, 2010-2014. American Journal of Public Health, 107 (2), 295-297. In Buehler’s article, he attempts to disprove a study that found no racial disparities in killings that law enforcement were responsible for.
In the book Between the World and Me, author Ta-Nehisi Coates shares the experience of a traffic stop through the eyes of a Black man. Recounting a memory to his son, Coates explains, “They took my identification and returned to the squad car. I sat there in terror… At that point in American history, no police department fired its guns more than that of Prince George’s County” (Coates 75-76). Given the increasing number of stories arising of unjustifiable police brutality, when pulled over by the police, understandably, Coates was genuinely concerned that they may take his life away.
As a final point, this chapter talks about the statistics of crime and how it effects the law-abiding citizens. Lott shows to the world how concealed firearms can change citizens lives for the better in this book. In Lott’s argument, he urges for those who haven’t taken advantage of their second amendment to do so. This argument has been effective overall due to his supporting evidence of crime rates and how people lives are changed with a way to protect their
Pre-existing beliefs of ethnic minorities from the media, police sub-culture or other micro-level influences mean that ethnic minorities are more likely to be stopped by the police than white people in an occupational culture where targeting is encouraged (see Cashmore, 2001; Bowling et al, 2008). Such targeting mandates are guided by discretion and are likely to become entrenched in the structural policies of the police. It is in such a situation that institutional racism finds its expression. Oakley (1999, p.290) defines the term as ‘the way institutions or organizations may systematically treat, or tend to treat, people differently in respect of "race"’. When such patterns of ill-treatment are repeated continuously, they take on a ‘rule-like status’ and cannot be easily disrupted (see Haney-Lopez 2000, p. 1723).
He asserts that “Something happens to people in law enforcement...after years of police work, officers often can’t help but be influenced by the cynicism they feel.” He rationalizes but does not deny, the law enforcement’s aggressive actions that the people of color may have seen or experienced. This method of pathos not only diversifies but also fortifies his thesis that there is evidence of racial profiling; however, he once again give reason for their skepticism to execute his primary purpose. Overall, dedicating three of his four “hard truths” to justify the actions of the law enforcement is crucial to his argument as a whole because his audience may have portrayed them differently
“Circumspect Police Ends the Drop in Crime?” This debate topic speaks about police being less proactive, because of vitriol, and causing an increase in crime rates. This debate topic is not directly related to the book, Ghettoside, but falls into the same bracket. The debate talks about the police becoming less involved because of denunciation, and rates of crimes increasing because of that. Ghettoside talks about the black-on-black homicide rates going up, one reason, because of the ignorance of the police.
Civil rights lawyer, advocate, and associate professor of law at Ohio State University, Michelle Alexander, introduce us the term "The New Jim Crow" and the impact it has on the black community. Taking into consideration the arguments in the lecture, we will be discussing themes such as gun violence, the war on drugs and mass incarceration in the United States. Michelle Alexander describes the social and economic factors that affect gun violence in the United States as a debate that pays little attention to the reasons why some communities are more susceptible to be what she calls "war zones". She argues that it is not the numbers of guns that deliberate the degree of safety of the neighborhood, but the number of good schools, jobs, and opportunities
All across America, an epidemic of law enforcement perverting their power over the people has broken out. Statistics show that, every eight hours, someone’s life is taken away by the very people who are supposed to protect it. An African-American man is about twice as likely to be executed by an officer as a Caucasian man, whether they pose a threat or not. Jess Colarossi from ThinkProgress.org reported that, “several Delaware police officers wound up fatally shooting the wheelchair-bound man.”
The Plague of the United States era, society is insistently assured by police and their apologist, is not the extensive abuse and other frequent misconduct by law enforcements officers, but the expanding “disrespect for authority” that is being encouraged by “liberals” and those more extensive individuals called “libertarians” The widespread media coverage of police brutality has become too common within our societies everyday life, thus causing destruction of the communities trust. Savage treatment is continually afflicted among African Americans as a replacement form of punishment. A substantial number of casualties of police brutality are African Americans, for instance during August 9th within a house of Brooklyn, an African American
Police officers are always looking for a target and they end up finding the perfect person to penalize. For example, many people are usually shocked when they find out that the reason they were pulled over was not, in fact, against the law, and end up penalized. In my opinion police officers should really focus on stopping crimes such as rapes, robbery, murders etc. Those crimes should have high penalties, but crimes such as speeding, driving without a license, carrying a small amount of drug should not equal the same prison time for a major crime for ethnic minorities. Therefore, unreasonable suspicions, pre-texts used by officers and jail time are things that play a huge role regarding the criminal justice system that affects the way ethnic minorities are
Violent crimes reported on the news while still surprising to hear and see has become very common. While the numbers seem to be overwhelming, statistics share violent crimes are at an all-time low. While the numbers of crimes are decreasing, gun ownership is increasing. Begging one to ask if the right to conceal to carry reduce
Some people might say that we need a gun to protect ourselves in the United States, but there are actually various ways to protect ourselves instead of using a gun according to the article, “How Americans Protect Themselves from Crime.” Transition to Conclusion: before the government legislates about the gun control law, we need to be the spearhead that is awake to this problem deeply and carefully. Restate Thesis: I am convinced that the entire civilian should not own guns to prevent the gun violence, and only government officers must be able to own guns. Review Main Points: we realize that erroneous gun possession contributes to horrible gun accidents.