Police Brutality And Racial Profiling By Police

There is a belief among some people that racist white police officers are hunting down innocent black men(Bandler, 2016). But thanks to a series of numbers brought to our eyes by the hand of a Heather Mac Donald, statistics from 2015 show that cops kill almost twice as many white people as black people (Mac Donald, 2016). On top of these statistics, the majority of the black victims were handling some kind of deadly weapon(Bandler, 2016). This does have a direct correlation with the amount of force used within the police force simply because of judgement and the way an intense time could alter the way people think or feel about specific situations(Bandler, 2016). Today, these specific situations almost seem like any traffic stop or crime confrontation(Bandler, 2016).

Racial Profiling and the disproportionate use of police force are controversial political issues. Debates on racial bias in policing continue to reverberate across the country making headlines, aside from the importance of the debate on racial profiling and police use of force, such events create intergroup conflict, foreground stereotypes and trigger discriminatory responses. A serious issue in today’s society is the rising tension between the police force and the community which has developed through racial profiling and police brutality. In New York City, the controversial “stop, question, and frisk” policy was endorsed by some as essential for reducing crime rates (MacDonald 2001) and challenged by others as racially biased with a heavy burden placed on affected individuals and communities (Fagan et al. 2010).

However, Anderson refuses to neglect the truth: they are the villains. Slamming any pre-existing admirable outlook readers may have had, Anderson inquires, based on his observations, “the authorities, particularly the police, paid scant attention and sometimes abused the victims themselves” (Anderson, 27). Philadelphia is notorious for its high crime rate, marking the police as almost a necessity to the function of everyday life. However, due to the mistreatment of citizens, people began to refer to the police as “ineffective” and “unworthy of trust.” The safeness of an area is key to the number of individuals using that public space, ultimately deeming the police a negative factor. In addition to the negative safety element, policemen also partake in plain acts of racism.

Garner’s death was a heartbreaking tragedy, but the unjustified backlash against misdemeanor enforcement is likely to result in more tragedy for New Yorkers” (36, Heather Mac Donald).” Here, Mac Donald makes me feel threatened by the criminal justice system. She advocates for more tyrannical policing involving interrogating and searching innocent people. I would hate to be in a situation where an officer was questioning me and wanted to search my person. If I declined the search I would most likely be asked “what do you have to hide?” and that can escalate into an unnecessary confrontation. Police officers should be involved in more community policing.

In the article Police Shootings Won 't Stop Unless We Also Stop Shaking Down Black People by Jack Hitt, the author describes a numerous amount of incidents against African Americans that almost always resulted in violent endings. Police are doing a lot of unjust things to citizens, most of which are to generate revenue for the city and to fund their own paychecks. For example, racist officers would pull over someone who is black for a minor incident and have them fined an amount that they are financially unable to pay; thus resulting in an escalating, yet endless amounts of additional fines. They also abuse their powers by breaking laws and justifying it with their police badge and authority. This shows that police who target people of a certain

Instead the police often challenge black people for walking or driving. This leaves the communities frightened of police rather than feeling supported. In society today, the fear and violence in which the author lived when growing up in Baltimore still continue on. The growing media coverage of police brutality and racial injustice in the United States can be described as “An Event”. Because of all these issues taking place, many in society are becoming psychologically impacted never forgetting the events they have experienced.

There is a point in everyone’s life where they are scared of a police officer pulling them over. The fear is usually getting a costly ticket or taken under arrest; However, darker skinned citizens now have to worry about police brutality. Police brutality is the use of excessive and unnecessary force by police when dealing with civilians. Over the years, the country has been exposed to the truth about what minorities face when pulled over by a racist police officer. Most of the victims from the police mistreatment are from minority groups, therefore, race plays a key role in police brutality.

Cops have one of the hardest and most dangerous jobs out there. They should have the full respect of the American public, and as of now that is not happening. When you look at the statistics of who is being shot, yes, African Americans do make up a larger portion of that. However, people should not jump to the conclusion that cops are racist. As said before, most of the shootings happen in the inner city and blacks make up the majority of the people there.

Black people killed by police were also significantly more likely to have been unarmed” (Laughland, Swaine and Lartey). There are reasons that why they are racism against black people because they keep killing them. Every year, the statistics are highest that the police officers because of racism kill unarmed black people. “32% of black people killed by police in 2015 were unarmed, as were 25% of Hispanic and Latino people, compared with 15% of white people killed” (Laughland, Swaine and Lartey). Police officers do not like them and have no respectful for them because they are black people.

Racial profiling has always been an issue in the United States, although we as a society tend to ignore it, it is still occurring around us everyday. Data has proven that racial profiling is an issue, it shows that, “Racial profiling is real. Disparate treatment of black and brown men by police officers is real. Grotesquely disproportionate numbers of killings of black men by the police are real” (Blow). Blacks are the number one race that is being killed by police officers; the numbers of the killings are drastically high.

Hollywood and social media has blown the police subculture way out of proportion, portraying police officers as crooked cops who abuse their authoritative powers and beats every suspect they encounter during their tour of duty. Critics who are opposed to law enforcement services can argue that a police organization is nothing but a bunch of racist, power hunger, and trigger happy individuals. On the other hand, supporters of law enforcement will work cooperatively with the department in order to prevent crime, enforce the law, preserve the peace, and provide a safe environment (Houston Police Department General Orders, 2012). Studies from Wine (2014) revealed that “black and white officers were equally likely to shoot African-American suspects” (para. 6).

Police relations among black and poor communities are an extremely hot topic in America today. According to the ADL black men between the ages of 17 and 25 are killed at a rate 65 percent higher than any other group in this country; and while some lawmakers, politicians and media pundits agree that racial bias is prevalent in the criminal justice system very few will admit that the discrimination or bias is explicit or intentional. The conversation is uncomfortable for some, stirs up emotions from the past for others and for some it 's as plain and simple as the “police put their lives on the line so we should never question or criticize their motives”. But when a white teen can commit and identical crime or worse than a minority teen and be privileged enough to have his parents called and the minority child ends up dead Americans have to take the blinders off and have this debate. What’s even more troubling is that even when the police have clearly violated their own agency’s policies, the constitution or other laws they are not held accountable for their actions; thus giving them a license to kill a certain group of people.

Another problem and cause with racism are how others think when you see something happening others might take it if that race has the same characteristics. Which would be under the lines of racial profiling. Racial profiling occurs when a person in authority, particularly a law enforcement agent, suspects people of criminal behavior based solely on their race, ethnicity, or national origin. This has become a very big problem in the 21st century because you see a lot of shooting with cops recently, and the news channel twisted up the story to make the crime more live for others to be worried about. One of the articles wrote“In 2012, George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer in Sanford, Florida, shot and killed unarmed African-American teenager Trayvon Martin as Martin was walking through a gated community where his father 's fiancée lived.

There are other reasons why polices officers used excessive force and lethal force rather than just their own decisions. As it was anteriority mentioned, the community is not trusting any more in police officers. Surveys in recent years with minority groups – Latinos and African American- suggest that the confidence in police is low. In 2014 this perspective was expanded to all American races across the country. Community gave “low marks to the police departments around the country… for misconduct, using appropriated amount of force, and treating racial and ethnics groups equally” (Wehbey, 2015).