Minorities and Policing1Minorities and Policing:Unfairly TreatedDorothy J. FellsCriminal Justice 131C. ThompsonDecember 6, 2001Minorities and Policing2Minorities and Policing:Unfairly TreatedIf 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. How minorities feel about police2. Employing minorities3.
Unfair treatment of minorities within the legal systemThis review of the information on minorities and policing focuses on these three issues. How Minorities Feel About Police According to Dr. Carl S. Taylor, the relationship between minority groups and police in the United States has historically been strained. Some cities have a deep and bitter history of bias and prejudice interwoven in their past relationships.
The feeling in many communities today is that the system pits law enforcement as an occupying army versus the neighborhood. Dr. Taylor wrote about easing tensions between police and minorities, but stated If there is any good news in the current situation, it is that the history of this strain has found the 1990s ripe for change. There is considerable evidence that minorities and police are not in agreement on many issues, and the blame is being shifted from all parties involved.
The police feel that they are fair in their treatment of minorities, but the evidence in many instance prove otherwise. When we view articles on the arrests of minorities versus whites, you will notice a variation in how various nationalities are treated. When reading the newspaper, you will see the photograph of a minority with previous criminal history and other issues outlined. This to me is done to paint a picture that shows the accused is already known for violating the law. Employing MinoritiesRacial polarization in our major cities has often cast the police as the oppressors, and some cities have an unfortunate tradition of hiring outsiders and few minorities, which has fueled further resentment toward the police.
Historically, relationships between minorities and police have not been the best, and many minorities view police as the oppressor.
