Policing in the US

Policing and Discrimination

Policing distribution, whether in the form of service or force, should never be discriminatory towards any social or ethnic group. Policing, whether in the form of force or operation, should not be skewed in favor of one racial group over another. However, research data suggests that, in general, minorities in the United States have a lower level of satisfaction with the police department and services than the mainstream, whose pride is dominant. This paper would include an account of police trends and relate policing in America to minority communities. The experience that the black Americans together with other minority groups have in the American society has been undergoing gradual transformation over many years. It was not until 1960s that a few people from these communities found a representation in some fields like sports, civil service, politics, and business but they were not represented in the police force and service. Over these years, the stereotypes about the black Americans have remained consistent. Some of the stereotypes that have been there in the society include the belief that the blacks are troublesome, aggressive, hard to handle, suspicious, incomprehensible, violent, and more prone to drug abuse than any other race.

Oppressive Policing and History

Since 1960, there has been a documentation of a vast number of researches providing information about the experiences that the black people faced regarding the oppressiveness of the policing in America. During this time, the blacks were subjected to Research documenting the experience among minority communities of being subjected to oppressive policing in America can be traced back to the 1960s when black people were subject to extreme agency of the criminal justice, politicians, and policing. The reason that has made the relationship between the American police and the minorities to increase have greatly been influenced by the legacies in history. In the past, the blacks were used by the colonialists to provide the labor force and this was the origin of discrimination in American police force with regard to the race. Every constituent of racism at the individual, institutional, and societal levels is experienced in the American police force. From the existing evidence, it is clear that there is a close linkage between the slave patrols and the modern day policing styles. The first codes for the blacks were adopted with the reconstruction of the south and with the conclusion of the civil war. The local law enforcement authorities were the ones who enforced these codes. Despite the fact that these codes offered some rights to the blacks that they were not previously receiving, they as well facilitated the creation of a new system of automatic enslavement through the way that they criminalized the black’s idleness and unemployment as destitution while their congregations were seen as unlawful meetings.

Underrepresentation in Police Force

In the recent past, only 16% of the entire minority police officers could be never be found in the higher positions within the police departments with the comparison to the 22% of all the officers. Promotion is biased in favor of the white Americans. 7% of all the white police officers in the country are in the positions above sergeant while the minority officers, only a small percentage of them were found in these positions. There have been several threats to the status of their positions and there has been always a need to continually confirm the positions. In a society that is democratic, the police governance structures are supposed to be a reflection of the demographic features of the society that is being policed. However, despite the fact that the country is democratic, there is a less representation of the minority communities in the senior positions of the police service and police force. The three elements that make up the structure of police governance where the minority groups are underrepresented are police authorities, middling of home office, and the chief police officers.

The Problem of Biasness in Police Force

The USA shares the same problem of biasness in the police force and police service with other countries such as Britain. The minority groups in Britain have not been happy due to the underrepresentation in the police force as it is in America. The contemporary dispute on the power abuse, failure of the investigation of the crimes against the minorities effectively and the notion that the officers are not responsive and accountable to the societies that they serve, echoes the troubled and the lengthy antiquity. While reporting all these, it does not mean that nothing has changed as British have made an effort to include individuals from various minority groups to serve in the various departments in the police force. Racism is not like that of the USA since it is significantly reducing with time and changes in the policing culture can be seen in the field together with its political and social context.

Work cited

All Faiths for One Race (1978) Talking Blues. London: AFFOR.

Baggett, M. (2000): ‘Breaking the power of fear and hate – relationships and renewal: a new ‘‘policing style’’ agenda?’, Policing Today, Autumn: 14–17.

Bland, N., Mundy, G., Russell, J. and Tiffin, R. (1999) Career Progression of Ethnic Minority Police Officers. Home Office Police Research Series Paper 107. London: Home Office.