Policing in America Chapter 12
What is profiling involving African American drivers often referred to
"driving while black"
What is profiling involving Hispanic or Latino drivers often referred to
"driving while brown"
What has creating a special unit to address a particular problem been characterized as
"presentation strategy"
What are the alternative benchmarks
- "not-at-fault" traffic accident data: drivers who are involved in the traffic accident, but are not themselves at fault - has the advantage of being readily available and inexpensive to analyze
What are the police justifications for racial and ethnic disparities in traffic stops
- African Americans and Hispanics are more likely to engage in criminal activity, and drug trafficking in particular - higher levels of patrol because of the higher crime crates and calls for service
Why is the effect of the demeanor of the suspect on arrests complex
- African Americans were more likely to be antagonistic to the police and more likely to be arrested for that reason - early studies did not control for when the antagonistic demeanor occurred, much of it occurs after the arrest and therefore is not a cause of arrest
What were the number of issues involved in the Trayvon Martin case
- Stand your Ground law - the fact that Zimmerman was carrying a gun was in violation of the standards for the thousands of neighborhood watch programs - disobeyed the 911 operator's explicit instruction not to confront the person he regarded as suspicious - the failure of the Sanford, Florida, Police Department to arrest Zimmerman for murder - belief that Zimmerman should be indicted under federal civil rights charges
When can race or ethnicity be used legitimately in police work
- a police officer cannot stop or arrest a person solely on the basis of race or ethnicity. It would violate the 14th Amendment guarantee of equal protection of the law - the police also cannot use race or ethnicity when it is one element in a general profile of criminal suspects - police may use race or ethnicity when it is one element in the description of a specific criminal suspect and where that information is based on credible information from a reliable source
What are the important differences in the attitudes toward police within racial and ethnic communities
- attitudes about the police role in Miami vary according to social class as well as by race and ethnicity Middle-class and lower-class African Americans do not share the same attitudes
How have police training programs improved dramatically
- average length of pre-service training more than doubled - police academies have either added or greatly expanded the coverage of race relations and human relations
What is employment discrimination
- cause of police-community relations - not hired because of race
What are the police-community relation problems between the police and the Native Americans
- crime reports are much higher on reservations than in general - tribal police departments are understaffed and lack sufficient equipment and resources to provide adequate police protection on reservations that encompass large geographic areas - jurisdictional problems
What do police field practices include
- deadly force - physical force - arrests - stops and frisks - verbal abuse
How are police departments responding to the changing demographics of their communities in their own ways
- ensuring that officers can communicate with people who do not speak English - offer incentive pay to bilingual officers - hire officers from recently arrived immigrant groups who can serve as liaisons between the police and newly arrived ethnic communities -Street Spanish - 911 translation services - Brochures in different languages - Outreach
What is a reason for Hispanic Americans being less likely to file complaints against the police
- language barrier - cultural factors- some are extremely fearful of the police and the possible consequences of filing a complaint
What are the different approaches that police departments have attempted to improve police-community relations
- maintaining a diverse workforce - improving the handling of citizen complaints - creating special police-community relations units - improving training
What situational factors explain when police officers are more likely to use force
- more likely to use force against criminal suspects (4-6% of all encounters with suspects), male suspects, African American males and drunk citizens and antagonistic to the police - physical resistance or disrespect
Why is interpreting traffic-stop data to determine whether or not a pattern of racial or ethnic discrimination exists is extremely difficult
- no industry standard exists for measuring racial or gender profiling - have found a pattern of racial disparity but that does not necessarily mean a pattern of discrimination exists
What role does the level of education play in the attitudes toward police
- only high school education or less consistently rate the police less favorably than people with some college or more education - %15 of people with only a high school education had very little confidence in the police, compared with %4 of college graduates
What is the 287(g) program
- request assistance from Immigration and Customs Enforcement through this program - permits local police to enforce immigration law after they have received required training from ICE personnel - 68 law enforcement agencies in 24 states have signed
What does the CALEA accreditation standards recommend about a representative police force
- should have minority group and female employees in the sworn law enforcement ranks in approximate proportion to the makeup of the available work force in the agency's law enforcement service community
What issues does the racial profiling controversy involve
-determining actual traffic enforcement practices by law enforcement agencies - the proper analysis of official traffic-stop data - the most effective remedies for racial or ethnic bias in traffic enforcement
What did the study on stop and frisk practices by the NYPD find
1. African Americans were more likely to be stopped than their presence in the population would indicate 2. to control for participation in crime, the study compared the percentage of African Americans stopped with the percentage of African Americans arrested in eight selected precincts. African Americans were stopped at a higher rate than the arrest data would predict 3. police frequently lacked adequate cause for a stop, few stops of African Americans resulted in an arrest
What do Americans believe is the value of mixed-race patrol teams
1. are likely to educate each other about differences in race, ethnicity, culture and communities 2. more likely to result in equal treatment of citizens 3. have an important symbolic value regarding equality and integration 90% oppose assigning officers on the basis of ethnicity
What are the four systems of justice
1. crimes by whites against whites were handled as "normal" crimes 2. crimes by whites against African Americans were rarely prosecuted, if at all 3. crimes by African Americans against whites received the harshest response 4. crimes by African Americans against African Americans were often ignored
How does tolerating vice crimes harm low-income and racial minority communities
1. it breeds disrespect for the law and the police, partly because of corruption 2. under-enforcement of the law exposes law-abiding citizens in minority communities to prostitution, drug dealing and related crimes such as shooting and robberies - exposes people to personal risk, lowers the quality of life and increases the risk that juveniles will engage in crime
How does community policing represent a different approach to improving police-community relations
1. it represents a comprehensive philosophy of policing 2. it is directed toward the community as a whole and not just racial and ethnic minority communities
What is the importance of developing community and police partnerships on racial profiling
1. partnership fosters trust 2. partnerships are a valuable avenue for two-way communication 3. partnerships can help police departments reduce the risk of engaging in unacceptable practices that might result in being sued
What are the different actions that traffic enforcement involves
1. stopping a vehicle 2. resolving the stop through an arrest, traffic citation, warning or no action 3. searching the vehicle, driver, and/or passengers
What situational factors are police decisions to arrest influenced by
1. strength of evidence 2. seriousness of the crime 3. preference of the victim 4. victim-suspect relationship 5. demeanor of the suspect
What conclusions can be drawn about public attitudes toward the police
1. the vast majority of Americans have a positive attitude toward the police 2. people of color consistently rate the police less favorably than whites 3. a majority of African Americans and Hispanics, however, give the police a generally favorable rating 4. young people rate the police less favorably than older people 5. poor people, less educated people and crime victims tend to rate the police lower than other Americans rate them 6. people who feel their neighborhood is safe view the police more favorably than people who do not feel safe 7. opinions about the police vary among different cities 8. people make important distinctions regarding police actions 9. attitudes toward the police reflect attitudes toward society as a whole
What is the argument that The National Crime Prevention Council makes in favor of police departments hiring members of newly arrived ethnic groups
1. there are enforcement benefits to police departments- alleviate the reluctance of crime victims to cooperate with the police and testify in court 2. help to increase public safety- overcome misunderstandings 3. intangible benefits- greater cultural understanding
What three different contexts can racial profiling occur
1. war on drugs- enforcement activities often target African Americans or Hispanics 2. police stopping people who appear out of place 3. general crackdown on crime- typically occur in poor, high-crime neighborhoods that are predominantly African American or Hispanic
What are the policies designed to prevent racial or ethnic bias in policing
1. written policy prohibiting racial or ethnic discrimination in all aspects of police work 2. improve police officer training- specific coverage of traffic enforcement strategies and tactics 3. traffic-stop data collection and analysis 4. Developing police-community partnership
What percent of all encounters with citizens do police officers use or threaten some kind of force
1.9%
How many unauthorized immigrants are currently living in the United States
10.8 million
What percent of the police though that the public likes the police
12%
What is selective perception
2-5% of all police contacts with citizens involve hostility or conflict - police officers are more likely to remember unpleasant events - young African American men were more likely than young white men to express hostility to the police - officers tend to stereotype young African american males
What percent of uses of force are justified
2/3
What percent of African Americans have little to no confidence in the police
24%
What ages have very little confidence in the police
29% of ages 18 to 29 8% of ages 50 to 64 lack of confidence in the police increase among the elderly
What percent of people with incomes below $20,000 had very little confidence in the police
30%
How long have attitudes toward the police been stable for
40 years
What percent of complaints against officers are filed by African Americans
42.3% - they are an average of 21.4% of the pop
What percent of African Americans indicted they had been personally "hassled" by the police
46.6%
What did the officers respond when asked if citizens on the streets act disrespectfully
50% of the officers responded that half or more citizens do treat them disrespectfully
What percent of people with incomes of $50,000 or greater had very little confidence in the police
7%
How often are police officers heard using offensive racial terms to other officers versus to citizens
75% with other officers 5% with citizens
How do the characteristics of crime victims have some impact on the racial pattern of arrests
African American complainants request arrests more often than whites and because most crimes are intra-racial, this results in more arrests of African Americans
What is Trust dimension 4: Respect
Do people feel that the police treat them respectfully? - Lack of respect from the police was one of the strongest themes to emerge from the focus groups - many participants expressed anger at the way they felt the police treat them - some felt that the police failed to respond when called about an incident in the neighborhood - many felt that police violated their rights and in particular harassed young people
What is Trust dimension 3: dependability
Do people feel the police can be counted on to fulfill their promises? - Most participants believe the police can be depended on to follow through on their promise to reduce crime
What is trust dimension 2: competence
Do people feel the police have the knowledge and skills to achieve their objectives? - Most of the participants who had noticed increased police crime-fighting efforts felt it had reduced drug-related crime
What is Tennesse v. Garner (1985)
Garner was 110 lbs, 15 yrs old African American - shot and killed by two Memphis, Tennessee, police officers while fleeing a suspected burglary - had a stolen purse with $10 in his possession - ruled that the fleeing-felon rule was unconstitutional - accelerated the trend toward the adoption of the defense-of-life standard
What are the ethnicity categories on the U.S. Census
Hispanic Non-Hispanic
Who are twice as likely to believe the police will use excessive force in their communities
Hispanics and African Americans
What are the different experiences of the various racial and ethnic groups
Hispanics have different experiences than African Americans Native Americans have a very unique history
How do language skills make a big difference in how people relate to the police
Hispanics who do not speak English were much less likely to report crimes - only 9% of respondents, compared with 35% of English-speaking and 27% of African Americans - Non-English-speakers were also less likely to report a neighborhood problem to the police
How has police use of deadly force changed significantly over the past 40 years
In the 1960s and 70s, ratio of African Americans to whites shot and killed by the police was as high as 6 to 1, or even 8 to 1, disparity greatest among fleeing suspects 1969-74, Memphis officers shot and killed 13 African Americans, but only 1 - number of shootings has declined, in part because of the old fleeing-felon rule that has been replaced
What is the Rodney King incident
Los Angeles police officers were repeatedly beating him - the video by George Holliday on March 3, 1991 was shown on television all around the world, setting off a chain of events that included two criminal trials, a major riot and an independent investigation of the LAPD
How does a suspect's behavior cause a specific police response
No response leads to no force Psychological intimidation leads to police presence Verbal non-compliance leads to verbal commands Passive resistance leads to controls and restraints Defensive resistance leads to chemical agents Active aggression leads to tactics weapons Deadly aggression leads to deadly force
What is symbolic assailant
Potentially dangerous citizens to whom police are trained to accord a level of suspicion (includes most/all citizens they encounter)
What is the discrimination-disparity continuum
Systemic discrimination- institutionalized discrimination- contextual discrimination- individual acts of discrimination- pure justice
What are Stoutland's dimensions of trust
Trust dimension 1: Priorities Trust dimension 2: competence Trust dimension 3: dependability Trust dimension 4: Respect
What are the official race categories on the U.S. Census
White Black or African American American Indian and Alaska Native Asian Asian Indian: Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Koran, Vietnamese, Native Hawaiian, Guanmanian or Chamorro, Samaon, other Pacific Islander
What is the case of Trayvon Martin
a 17-year old African American was shot and killed by George Zimmerman, a volunteer in a neighborhood watch program - he claimed that Martin had assaulted him and that his decision to shoot was justified by the Florida "Stand Your Ground" law
What did attitudes toward the police often represent
a broader set of attitudes toward society, government, and the criminal justice system - people who express the greatest dissatisfaction with the police also have the most negative attitudes toward courts and judges - more alienated from society and participate less in politics
What ranks second to race and ethnicity as a factor in public attitudes toward the police
age
What percent of arrests did African Americans represent
all arrests: 28% violent crimes: 38% drug arrests: 32% - they constitute only 12% of the U.S. pop
What represents 17% of all complaints against officers
allegations of inappropriate language
What do the tensions between the police and the African Americans community involve
allegations of unjustified fatal shootings, use of excessive force, overly aggressive police tactics in stops and frisks, discrimination in traffic stops and employment discrimination
What are ride-along programs
allowed citizens to ride in a patrol car for a few hours, observing potentially dangerous incidents from a distance
What is each group of the Hispanic/latino community divided among
among recent immigrants and people who have resided in the US for one or more generations and between people who are fluent in English and people with limited or no command of English -divided among documented and undocumented people
What is a "presentational strategy" by an organization
an effort to provide external evidence of addressing an issue
What is excessive force
any level of force more than is necessary to fulfill a lawful objective
What did minorities regard most PCR programs
as public relations puff and a deliberate con game
Why have the relations between the Hispanic community and local police grown tense
as the Latino population has increased both in number and as a proportion of those reporting civil rights abuse - problems related to the enforcement of federal immigration laws - workplace raids at the places of employment
Why are official criminal justice data problematic
because state and local agencies use their own categories, determined by agency officials - result is inconsistency and confusion
Why do African American and Hispanic parents make a special effort to teach their children to be very respectful of police officers
because they were afraid their children might be arrested, beaten or even shot if they displayed any disrespect to an officer
What is hassled
being stopped or watched closely by a police officer, even when you had done nothing wrong
Why do many local police departments not want to become involved in the enforcement of federal immigration laws
believe that immigration enforcement is the responsibility of the federal government - many of the largest cities passed ordinances and/or resolutions that limit their local police agency's ability to enforce immigration law
What are the differences in police response times based on race
black citizens perceive greater delays than whites - higher percentage of whites reported the police responding in less than five minutes, while nearly twice as many blacks as whites reported that the police took more than 15 minutes to respond
Why do critics argue that the statement that differential enforcement patterns can be explained by the greater involvement of minorities in crime
circular reasoning - racial and ethnic minorities are stopped and arrested more often than whites, producing higher arrest rates that, in turn, justify higher rates of stops and arrests not more likely to use drugs speeding is equal
What is internal benchmarking
compares the performance of individual officers with peer officers, that is officers with similar assignments - assumption that officers with the same assignment should have roughly similar work patterns - tries to identify any particular officer who stops significantly more African American or Hispanic driver - raise questions about an officer's performance - not useful if all officers are engaging in racial profiling
What do African Americans complain of regarding the level of law enforcement
complain of harassment by overly aggressive police tactics
What are at the heart of the police-community relations problem
conflicting perceptions about what constitutes fair treatment of people and/or effective police work
What is the Christopher Commission
created to investigate the LAPD after the 1991 Rodney King beating - reviewed 180 days of computer-based communications among LAPD police officers
What has failure to enforce the law in minority neighborhoods often involved
crimes of vice - gambling, after-hours drinking, prostitution and drugs were allowed to exist in low-income and racial minority neighborhoods
What do patrol officers often deliberately delay
delay responding to calls for service, especially in the case of family disturbances
What is a benchmark
denominator for interpreting the data
What is a rolling survey
developed by John Lamberth - trained observers drive on the roadway in question and observe the racial composition of all drivers and the racial composition of those drivers observed to be breaking the law - provides a valid and reliable estimate of who is actually a risk for a traffic stop on that particular roadway - extremely expensive to conduct and requires careful training and supervision of observers
What is disparity
different outcomes that are not necessarily caused by differential treatment - most college students are between the age of 18 and early 20s. This is not the result of discrimination, but because of the normal life course: younger people have not completed high school and middle-aged people have either finished college or do not plan to attend
What is discrimination
differential treatment based on some extralegal category such as race, ethnicity or gender - if an employer refuses to hire members of a certain ethnic group
What is systematic discrimination
discrimination at all stages of the criminal justice system, at all times, and in all places
What is contextual discrimination
discrimination found in particular contexts or circumstances
What are individual acts of discrimination
discrimination that results from the acts of particular individuals but is not characteristic of entire agencies of the criminal justice system as a whole
What is trust dimension 1: priorities
do people feel that the police share their concerns about the neighborhood? many residents feel they do not and believe that the police concentrate too narrowly on short-term crime reduction rather than broader quality-of-life issues
What did incidents such as the Rodney King incident cause
dramatic short-term effect on attitudes toward the LAPD
What do the greatest racial disparities in arrest involve
drug offenses
What did a new restrictive shooting policy eliminate in Memphis
eliminated all shooting in the unarmed and non-assaultive category, greatly reducing the racial disparity in persons shot and killed in the process
What does the force factor framework examine
examines police officer behavior in relationship to the citizen's actions
What is the force considered if an officer uses force where there is no resistance or threat on part of the citizens
excessive
What is the best data on who is at risk to be stopped while driving derived from
from direct observation
What is the defense-of-life standard
greatly restricts the use of deadly force by police officers
Where is cultural competence a special problem in
in communities that have recently experienced significant immigration of people from Latin America, Asia or Africa
What is the police narrative on the racial divide
in high-crime neighborhoods, no one cares, that the "moral backbone" of these communities collapses, that no one tells criminals to stop and that there is no "community" left to partner with
What are field interrogations
involve a crime control strategy of both identifying and apprehending offenders, and at the same time sending a message of deterrence to people on the street
What did the strongest evidence of racial or ethnic disparities involve
involved what happened after the initial stop - black drivers were three times more likely and Hispanics were two times more likely to be searched after a stop
Why is the term minority group not appropriate
it fails to distinguish between race and ethnicity and assumes that all groups have the same experience
What was the issue with the Stand your Ground law
it justifies shootings only to "prevent death or great bodily harm" - Martin had no weapon and there is no evidence of a threat to great bodily harm - Had Zimmerman been a sworn police officer, the shooting would not be justified by standard deadly force policies
What did the National Science Foundation find regarding if local law enforcement is prepared to address the immigration issue
largely ill prepared to address the issue - less than half of all departments have a policy regarding policing immigrants and only 45 percent of departments offer training on the issue
What do victims of crime consistently rate the police
less favorably than do people who have not been victimized
What role does gender play in the attitudes toward the police
little difference - less confidence in the police among women compared with men
Who have a disproportionate level of contact with the police
low-income people and people of color low-income young males who use public places as their recreation spots
Who are more likely to be stopped
males were more likely to be stopped than females young people (16-29) were more likely to be stopped than older people minorities are more likely to be stopped
What did the Christopher Commission find
many messages contained offensive racial stereotypes, while others openly referred to use of physical force - indicated that the culture of the LAPD tolerated the use of offensive language
What is the only rank in front of the police where the public has more confidence
military and small businesses
What do whites, African Americans and Hispanics all express strong support for
more police patrol and surveillance of high-crime area - less supportive of stopping and searching people
What do people who feel safer in their neighborhood have
more positive attitudes toward the police compared with people who feel less safe
What must police do to remain effective and to increase effectiveness
must become skilled inter-cultural craftspeople
What did departments create in an effort to provide a more convenient access for community residents
neighborhood storefront offices
What is pure justice
no racial or ethnic discrimination at all
What do a number of experts believe that a certain amount of racial bias in traffic enforcement is a result of
of a police officer deciding that an African American or Hispanic driver is "put of place" in a white neighborhood
What is selective contact
officers do not have regular contact with a cross section of the community 5 percent of people make 64% of all the calls only about 17% of all Americans 16 and over have a face-to-face with a police officer each year
What did officers report regarding changes in race relations
officers reported more positive attitudes toward African American residents and perceived less community hostility toward them as a result of the training sessions
How did the cities with special PCR units public attitudes change
only slightly more positive than in those cities where no PCR unit existed
Who did ride-along programs tend to attract
only those people who already have a favorable attitude toward the police and do not reach those people who have serious complaints about the police
Who have greater confidence in the police
people who believe the police are effective in controlling crime in their neighborhood
What is the fleeing-felon rule
permits the use of force, including deadly force, against an individual who is suspected of a felony and is in clear flight
Why is the issue of excessive physical force particularly complex
police officers are authorized by department policies to use force in certain situations: to protect themselves, to affect an arrest, to overcome resistance and to bring a dangerous situation under control
What does the greatest gap between the whites, Hispanics and African Americans exist with regard to
police use of force
What did most big-city police departments create in response to the urban riot of the 1960s
police-community relations units, which operated programs designed to improve relations with minority communities - spent most of their time speaking in schools and to community groups
What do language barriers create
potentially serious obstructions to the delivery of high-quality police services - likely to arise when the citizen speaks a language other than English that the responding officer does not speak
What is institutionalized discrimination
racial and ethnic disparities in outcomes that are the result of the application of racially neutral factors such as prior criminal record, employment status, demeanor
What is verbal abuse
racial and ethnic slurs - a source of tension between the police and minority communities
What has race been traditionally defined as
referring to the major biological divisions of the people of the world Caucasian, Negroid, Mongoloid
What is ethnicity
refers to cultural differences, such as language, religion, family patterns and foodways separate from race as a category
What is the police officer misperception of public attitudes a result of
selective contact selective perception
What is the U.S. Census based on
self-reporting, ask people to report both their race and ethnicity
What does a Rorschach in uniform mean
someone onto whom people project their fears and fantasies
Who, traditionally, have no authority to enforce immigration laws
state and local law enforcement officers
What do practices of traffic stops and field interrogations tend to involve
stereotyping of citizens
What are police officers trained to be
suspicious and develop a visual "shorthand" for suspects, based on visual cues - this involves a certain amount of stereotype by gender, age and race
What does a report on Policing a Multicultural Community conclude
that "preventing, mitigating and negotiating intergroup conflict in the community must become an integral part of police practice
What did 21.7% percent of officers agree
that in their own departments sometimes or always officers use more force than is necessary to make an arrest
What did surveys regarding attitudes toward police find
that most Americans are satisfied with the police in their communities 88% of all Americans reported to have a "great deal" or "some" confidence in the police 91% of white Americans and 75% of African Americans
What did the Knapp Commission investigation of police corruption in NYC find
that the monthly vice payoffs to police in the predominantly African American areas of Harlem averaged $1,500 (1970s dollars), compared with $300 in predominantly white downtown precincts
What did the American Anthropological Association state regarding race
that there is no scientific foundation for the traditional classification of human beings into distinct "races" that are identifiable by physical characteristics such as skin color, hair texture an other features
What is argued about both the narratives on the racial divide
that they both are exaggerated and contain falsehoods and that it is necessary to get past them if we are to develop effective problem-solving approaches to the problems of drugs and gun violence in high-crime, African American neighborhoods
What did 73% of the officers think about the perceptions of the public
that they were against the police or hate the police
What is the largest minority community
the Hispanic/Latino community 16.3% of the pop
What is cultural competence
the ability to understand and respond appropriately to differences in the languages, traditions, lifestyles and patterns of communication of different racial or ethnic groups
What are the visible reminders of the police officer's power to use force
the badge, baton and gun
What is legitimacy
the belief that the police as a social institution are acting properly and effectively, and deserve public support
What is a use of force continuum
the different levels of force appropriate for particular situations
What did Stoutland highlight
the distinction between people's feelings about police competence and their feelings about police respect for citizens
What does the "driving while black" controversy highlight
the extent to which many African Americans believe they are singled out for discriminatory treatment and distrust many other aspects of policing
What was the issue of the failure of the Sanford, Florida, Police Department to arrest Zimmerman
the facts are not entirely clear - one Sanford officer recommended on indictment but that the state's attorney declined the case
How did the enforcement of immigration change after 9/11
the federal government began to advocate for the position that illegal immigrants and related criminal activity was best responded to through a multi-agency approach that made use of expertise at federal, state and local levels - local law enforcement personnel are typically the first to come into contact with criminal aliens who may pose a threat to public safety
What presents new issues for police departments
the increase in the number of legal and illegal immigrants and the new variety of languages and cultures in American cities
What is an important aspect of conflict between the police and some racial and ethnic groups
the lack of cultural competence
What do allegations of police brutality represent
the most common complaint voiced by minorities about the forces
What is the BJS Police Public Contact Survey
the most thorough report on traffic enforcement patterns
What does the report Donde esta la justicia point out
the negative impact of one difference in styles of communication: Avoiding direct eye contact is considered respectful in Latin nations, but in the United States doing so can be perceived as "a sign of disrespect or deceptiveness" by criminal justice officials
What is a major police-community relations problem
the perception that police departments are hostile to people who want to file complaints, do not investigate complaints thoroughly and do not discipline officers who are guilty of misconduct
What was policing for the African American community during the institutionalized segregation in the South
the police disregarded many crimes resulted in the four systems of justice
What is racial profiling
the practice of police officers stopping drivers because of their race or ethnicity and not because of a legitimate law violation
What plays a major role in shaping attitudes toward the police
the quality of life in a neighborhood
What do most traffic-stop studies use as the benchmark
the resident population
What was the outcome of Weizter's interviews in DC of one middle-class white, one middle-class African Americans and one lower-class African American
the residents of the lower-class were 7 times more likely than residents of the black middle-class to believe that the police stop people on the street in their neighborhood without good reason and 3 times more likely than residents of the white middle-class
What is police brutality
the use of excessive physical force by the police
What is the most charged racial issue in America
the way ops perceive blacks and how those perceptions shape and misshape crime fighting
What is procedural justice
theory that holds that people distinguish between outcomes and the process - even when the outcome is unfavorable, people are more likely to be satisfied if the official explains the basis for the action
What is the community narrative on the racial divide
there is a conspiracy to destroy African American communities, the police are a part of it, and the government introduced the drug "crack" as part of this conspiracy
What does police-community relations refer to
to relations between the police and racial and ethnic minority communities
What do the experiences with the police vary according to
to the department, the type of police action, the departmental unit involved and so on
What are the different ethnic groups of Arab Americans
trace their background: Lebanon (30%) Egypt (12%) Syria (9%) - most are native-born and 80% are american citizens
What is the most serious example of racial profiling that has been documented
traffic stops by state police officers on interstate highways in Maryland and New Jersey - directly related to drug enforcement
What helps explain how some residents of a neighborhood complain about harassment while others in the same neighborhood complain about under-enforcement
use of force incidents accumulate over time with the result that "a sizeable minority of citizens experience police misconduct at one time or another - most force incidents involve young, low-income men with a disproportionate representation of racial and ethnic minorities
What role does inter-city variation play in attitudes toward the police
varies from city to city 93% of SD were found to be satisfied with their police, compared with only 80% of chicago residents
How do police compare with other occupations in terms of public attitudes
very favorably rank fairly high with regards to perceptions of their honesty and ethical standards
What is most important about the racial profiling controversy
while almost all traffic-stop data reports have found evidence of racial or ethnic disparities in stops and searches, not all of these reports have found persuasive evidence of illegal discrimination
What does population data not indicate
who is actually driving on the roads or who is violating a traffic law - also does not reflect nonresidents who are driving into or through the area
When is the perception of harassment by police very strong
with regard to police-initiated stops on the street - pedestrian stops or field interrogations - stops are sometimes accompanied by searches
