In today’s society, the United States is a melting pot of diversity. It is filled with many different cultures, languages, and beliefs. As these diverse aspects of people’s lives fill the city, suburbs and the country, police officers must adapt to these changes in their community. If police departments do not adapt or are slow at adapting to their community’s diversity they can come upon many barriers that can make their duties more challenging. The two most prominent barriers that exist between the police and their community are language barriers and cultural barriers (Miller, Hess, Orthmann, 2014). For example, in a small town that has a large agricultural area, which produces many vegetables, may see a large number of immigrants (legal and illegal) in the summer; that work in the fields. As a result, a normally predominate English-speaking, Caucasian population may become the minority to a Spanish speaking, Hispanic population. Due to the fact that these immigrants are not from this area, do not get paid a high salary, and live in tight quarters they are always in the public and police view. In addition, they normally make up a large part of the police …show more content…
Furthermore, police officers could further their cultural knowledge by attending community functions in which they would be able to learn cultural differences first-hand from the community themselves. Such actions were taken at Penn State University, where the Vice President of University Police, Charlie Noffsinger, says his officers participated in “300 community education programs,” which drew in more than 4,000 participates from the community (Healey, 2016). As a result, officers may be able to put an end to some of these cultural differences that may not only put them in harm’s way but the community they serve as
& Forst, L.S. (2016). An Introduction to Policing (8th Edition). Boston, MA USA: Cengage Learning. p.243 (245). Retrieved June 6, 2017, from https://www.betheluniversityonline.net
When police officers are perceived as being racially motivated, where certain groups of people are being targeted, it undermines the social goals of policing, weakens residents’ cooperation with police and raises questions about the legitimacy of law (Fagan & Davies, 2000). Supporters also back up this claim with statistics that show an association between racial/ethnic groups and crime (Harris, 2003). The arg...
Walker, S., & Katz, C. (2012). Police in America: An Introduction (8th Edition ed.). New York:
This era is where the shift from a centralized task force has gravitated to a decentralized task force, causing some friction from both the community and the officers that serve it. Police are told that they are needed to listen to the concerns for the community; however, law enforcement is still the primary goal. Police forces now have to defend the values for which the forces were built upon. The idea of problem solving has come into question with police discretion towards certain run-ins with the law. Williams and Murphy argue it is due to the lack of sensitivity from minorities and the concern on crime itself than the community. Kelling and Moore contradict Williams and Murphy, with Kelling/Moore suggesting the era is more about listening to concerns of the community and improving the citizen satisfaction. But both the article came to the conclusion of the silent underlying problems that are becoming more of a “quiet riot” with the police and the
Minorities and Policing: Unfairly Treated If we look at the past, we can see that there is no warm tradition of community cooperation between the African-American community and law enforcement. Minorities and Policing is an important topic because it deals with issues pertaining to how minorities are treated by the police. Racial profiling and social injustice are important areas when dealing with unfair treatment of minorities. 1.
Our society has become one that is very diverse. Law enforcement agencies (local, state, and federal) for our changing society need to include an increase representation of women and minorities, definite improvement in leadership skills, and to strengthen community policing. These are all issues of great importance, which are no longer going to be pushed aside.
Minority groups have always been underrepresented in police forces across the United States. One of the main reasons minority groups are underrepresented in police department is due to the negative interaction White officers have had with citizens of minority groups. According to McNamara and Burns (2008), members of minority groups feel police officers abuse of their authority by overstepping the boundaries of procedural laws, which dictates how the police are to use their powers. The conflicts between minorities and White officers has caused many individuals from minority groups to not be attracted to the police work. Moreover, individuals from minority groups do not apply for police work because they feel they would not be accepted in policing,
In America, police brutality affects and victimizes people of color mentally and socially. Social injustice has become a major issue, which involves the principle of white supremacy vs minorities. The current police brutality that has been occurring is culturally disconnecting ethnicities from one another. According to Cincinnati Police Chief Jeffrey Blackwell, “.the cultural disconnect is very real; you have the weight of generations of abuse on African Americans,” (Flatow, 2016). For example, over the past four years, there have been countless acts of police brutality.
The US Justice Department statistics 2003 and onwards demonstrates significant disproportion in the incarceration rate of minority African American and Hispanic men between the ages of 25 and 29 years as compared to the rate associated with White men of the same age. Bell (2007), proposes that as minority groups grow in numbers within the dominant group they will experience greater equality. However, rate of incarceration among minority males remains alarmingly high and as compared to their White counterparts. As with health care there are racial disparities that will influence outcomes when an individual is brought before the criminal courts. Additionally, there is significant correlation between a person’s level of education and the likelihood of his involvement in criminal activities. Studies and statistics have shown that among male high school dropouts there is high incidence of unemployment, low income and rate of illicit drug use as compared to men with degrees from four year colleges. Further to this, although the rate of school dropout and even arrest is not significantly different across the race lines, literature alludes that African American men have a higher rate of conviction for the same crime committed.
Police reform should start by giving proper training to the new recruits and veterans in the force. During their training, “Law enforcement agencies should adopt and enforce policies prohibiting discrimination based on race, ethnicity immigration status, etc.” (Cops, p.90). It is apparent
In the line of police force it is imperative to think outside of the box. Many people confuse a police officer’s curiosity as racial profiling and racism. However, this is how a police officer often finds the majority of their evidence. In many neighborhoods, there a dominant races that live within the community. For example, if a wealthy white man was driving around a predominantly minority-based community, it would be acceptable for a police officer to grow skeptical at this situation. It is obvious that man is out of place, and it is the police officer 's duty to further investigate the
A police officer is a law enforcement official whose job is to protect and serve all people, not to ignore racial equality. Because the U.S consists of many different races and ethnic groups, the ongoing conflict between police officers and citizens of color is constantly rising. Although police officers today are no longer allowed to have racial bias, which can be described as, attitudes or stereotype used against individuals of color to define their actions and decisions, officers sometimes abuse their authority going around racial impact tools and policies. This results in citizens viewing it as discrimination and mass criminalization. By changing the way laws and regulations unfairly impact Black and Brown communities can improve the justice
make police work more effective and efficient. Hanser and Gomila (2015) noted, “The criminal justice system does not operate in a social vacuum; rather, it is directly impacted by this sense of rapid and continual cultural change” (p. 7). In light of globalization, law enforcement organizations must change the way it operates in a world where criminal activities and terrorism are more geographically diverse and sophisticated.
Companies such as Buzztronics are leading the way in the global economy because of their dedication to diversity in the workplace. In order to build a diverse and successful workforce, a business needs to recruit, train, and retain capable and talented minorities.
To conclude, Community policing represents a major development in the history of American law enforcement, but the extent to which this approach is a success and dominates contemporary policing remains a source of debate. In my point of view, community policing is good for communities. It has challenged the traditional concept of the police as crime-fighters by drawing attention to the complexities of the police role and function. In addition to the police officer hard work; citizens can also make a difference and contribute to make neighborhoods a better place to live. For instance, citizens can hold community meetings to talk about concerns and agree on solutions help organize healthy activities for children in your neighborhood, join or starting a neighborhood crime watch program, and talk to your community police officers and share information and concerns.