Proposed Actions to End Police Discrimination - Essay Example

Here Number November 24, 2006 Proposed Action Plan to End Police Discrimination Racial profiling and discrimination is a problem that affects police forces in all cities - at all levels. Much research has been done on what steps can be taken to end racial profiling, but the major issues still exist. The plans that have been developed thus far have not worked. There are new stories on all the time about how white officers are targeting individuals of different races on the street - and even on college campuses. Take, for instance, the incident that occurred just two weeks ago at UCLA, when campus police used a stun gun to sedate Mostafa Tabatabainejad after he refused to show them his I.D. (CNN.com, 1). Tabatabainejad may or may not have been justified in his actions, but from the videotape of the event, it appears that the police were certainly not justified in their actions. Campus police spokeswoman Nancy Greenstein commented, "This is a long-standing library policy to ensure the safety of students during the late-night hours" (CNN.com). But one wonders if this is actually the case. Would the police have treated a white male in the same way We are also seeing this same kind of behavior occurring within our own police force. The only way this problem can be stopped is by creating a plan of action that would require a major overhaul in the way the police officers of this city think about the people in the community, and vice versa. The needs assessment for this plan is described below. Needs Assessment: Problems Within the Community Problem 1: Police vs. Minority College Students Recently, the police department has been under fire for its rough treatment of students of color during protests on the college campus. In fact, this type of police-student interaction has increased almost 75 percent in the past year. On the other hand, police violence against white students during protests has decreased 50 percent in the same period of time. Obviously, there is a disparity here that needs to be addressed. Problem 2: Police neglect of crimes against minorities Our officers routinely neglect the investigation of crimes committed against minority groups so that they can spend more time on crimes against white people. They do not even respond to calls from minority neighborhoods in a timely manner. Of the 5,000 emergency calls the department received over the past year, 1,500 were from white citizens, while 3,500 were from minority citizens (black, Hispanic, Asian, and Middle Eastern). Ninety percent of the 1,500 white citizens' calls were responded to within a day, with an average of 50 police work hours going into investigating each of these calls. Only 30 percent of the 3,500 minority calls were responded to within a day, with an average of about 12 work hours put forth toward the investigation of these calls. This represents a serious neglect of duty when it comes to making sure that the safety needs of all citizens are addressed. Problem 3: Police harassment of minority owned and frequented businesses The department gets calls all the time from minority-owned and frequented businesses about the lack of respect, and the amount of grief, they get from the neighborhood officers. Over the past year, these incidents have increased 50-60 percent. It is unclear whether this really reflects a shift in police actions, since the number of minority-owned businesses in the community has also increased significantly. Still, it represents a disturbing trend. Problem 4: Racial slurs directed toward minority communities The officers on this force have, at times, been known to speak to Hispanics and other minority groups using derogatory language and racial slurs. Hundreds of calls have been received from concerned citizens about this issue. These incidents represent an increase of about ten percent over the past year, but this does not even reflect the number of remarks that go unnoticed or unreported. It is likely that there are many such cases. Sadly, this discriminatory behavior on the part of the police does not stop within the community. It makes its distasteful presence known even within police headquarters. Needs Assessment: Problems Inside Police Headquarters Problem 1: Racist/Sexist Comments Complaints have been brought up by minority officers charging some white male officers with making racist or sexist comments within their hearing. Over the past year, 200 such cases have been reported by the 2,000 officers from ethnic minorities and the 1,000 female officers on the force. This is especially alarming considering that these minorities make up only 30 percent of all the officers on the force, but the complaints about these comments represent the majority of all interdepartmental complaints filed for the past year. Problem 2: Sexual harassment In addition to sexist comments, female officers on the force have also been subjected to other covert and overt acts of what can only be described as sexual harassment. There has been an increase over about 40 percent in sexual harassment cases over the past year. As is the case with the minority-owned businesses, however, it is difficult to say whether there is an actual shift in the behavior of the male police officers because of the dramatic increase in the number of female officers during this time period. Problem 3: Violation of personal property Several minority officers have also reported graffiti and offensive pictures being drawn on their lockers. Not only is this offensive, but it is also a violation of the law. This is something police officers are supposed to protect people from - not perform themselves. Problem 4: Officers refusing to accompany minority officers on calls Minority officers have also reported that their fellow white male officers have threatened to not back them up on calls. This is perhaps the most serious form of discrimination occurring within the police department. The police are there to serve and protect, and they are charged with protecting the lives of their colleagues, as well as the public. For an officer to refuse to help out another officer on a call just because that officer is of a different ethnicity or gender is absolutely despicable. The instances of this type of behavior are few and far between, but the mere fact of their existence is enough to do something to stop them. These disgusting, harmful behaviors need to stop - especially since there has been such a large increase in this city's Hispanic and black population in recent years, and in the number of female officers joining the force. A possible course of action to change these behaviors follows. Action Steps to Affect Positive Change Try to change public opinion of the police Past discriminatory acts on the part of the police have led to serious bad feelings within the community (Weitzer and Tuch, 1009). These bad feelings may actually cause minorities to act in ways that would increase the officers' negative perceptions of them (Weitzer and Tuch, 1009). This sort of interaction turns into a never-ending cycle that will never do anything to improve race relations between the public and the police. In order to affect positive change within the police force, it may be necessary to first affect positive change within the community. If the ethnic minorities begin to see the police as allies, as the white people do, the police may, in turn, see them in a more positive light (Weitzer and Tuch, 2006). One way in which to do this is to change the police uniforms. Research has shown that the uniforms police wear seriously affect on how the public views them (Johnson, 28). Black uniforms are seen as more authoritative, less approachable, and "bad," while blue, or even lighter-colored, uniforms are seen as more friendly and positive (Johnson, 30). An experiment done in Menlo Park, California studied the effects of non-traditional uniforms on public perceptions of the police. Officers were dressed in a non-traditional uniform of a blazer, shirt, and slacks, with their badges showing and weapons concealed under the blazer. Police attacks on the public were not as frequent when they were wearing the non-traditional uniforms (Johnson, 29). Likewise, public violence against the police decreased (Johnson, 29). Further study showed that police officers' educational background might have had more to do with the better public interactions than the uniform (Johnson, 29). So, along with a more positive change in the uniforms (lighter colors, and less military-looking), better police training is in order. Improve police training The problem with police training as it stands now is that it is very focused on the physical part of the job (Johnson and Cox). Little instruction is given regarding the important ethical issues with which a police officer must deal on a day-to-day basis (Johnson and Cox). This action-oriented training often leads to the belief that "masculinity is an essential requirement for the practice of policing and that women do not belong" (Prokos and Padavic, 439). In effect, the current training that academy recruits receive teaches them that women are inferior and should not have the right to perform duties as police officers, and it does nothing to teach that people of different races should be treated with the same respect that is given to people of the officers' same race. Obviously, training that is more culture- and gender-sensitive needs to be developed. It probably should have been developed years ago, so why hasn't it been The answer to this probably rests in the fact that, for many years now, the police have been to police themselves and to take care of their own, with little concern for our their actions affect society as a whole (O'Shea and Nicholls). Any action plan that is meant to correct police interactions with the public needs to include the public in making sure that the plan is carried out. This can be done by empowering the community. Empower the community In 1999, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) started passing out "Driving While Black or Brown" kits to minorities in Atlanta (Browne, 6). These kits were full of information for minority youth, explaining how to keep from being profiled and how to stay out of violent interactions with the police (Browne, 6). The kits included a letter to Congress asking them to support a bill that would end racial profiling, the number for the ACLU's hotline "for reporting race-based traffic stops," and a "bust card," which describes the steps a minority person should take if stopped by the police (Browne, 6). More recent attempts to correct police discrimination have been carried out in St. Louis. Residents within the African-American community, with the financial assistance of the local ACLU chapter, are videotaping their interactions with police (King). St. Louis has also created a civilian review board, which will hopefully allow for an open discussion about how to foster better feelings between the police and the minority public (King). In conclusion, these are the steps that should be followed in order to deal with police discrimination in our community: 1) Change police uniforms, so that they are viewed more positively 2) Include courses in the police academy training program on how to be more sensitive to people of the opposite sex and other ethnicities 3) Empower the community to help police the police No one likes change. There will be people who complain that the new uniforms don't like right, the new training program takes too long to complete, and the increased citizen involvement in police business is meddlesome. However, what is the alternative Ill will and the possible continued mistreatment of large segments of the city's population. The police chief and the city's mayor have been more than generous in offering their full cooperation to this program, and with good reason. Letting things go on the way have been is dangerous to both the public and the police force. Change is difficult, but the alternative is even worse. Works Cited Browne, J. Zamgba. "ACLU Turns Up Effort to End Racial Profiling." News Amsterdam News 23 December 1999: 6 "Cop Uses Stun Gun on Student Who Won't Show ID." 16 November 2006. CNN.com. 24 November 2006. http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/11/16/student.stunned.ap/index.html Johnson, Richard R. "The Psychological Influence of the Police Uniform." FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin 70.3 (2001): 27-32. Johnson, Terrance A., and Cox, Raymond W., III. "Police Ethics: Organizational Implications." Public Integrity 7.1 (2004-2005): 67-79. King, Joyce. "Civilian boards best to keep cops in check." USA Today 7 July 2006: 11A. O'Shea, Timothy C., and Nicholls, Keith. "Police Crime Analysis: A Survey of US Police Departments with 100 or More Sworn Personnel." Police Practice & Research 4.3 (2003): 233-250. Prokos, Anastasia, and Padavic, Irene. "'There Oughtta Be a Law Against Bitches': Masculinity Lessons in Police Academy Training." Gender, Work, and Organization 9.4 (2002): 439- 459. Weitzer, Ronald, and Tuch, Steven A. "Racially Biased Policing: Determinants of Citizen Perceptions." Social Forces 83.3 (2005): 1009-1030. Read More