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Essay On Racism And Police Officers

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Essay On Racism And Police Officers
Racism and Police Officers
Are all police officers purposely racist? Do they have to pass a test on racism and ones with high scores become employed at a police department? The answer is “No” to both questions. Nonetheless, according to the latest news, regarding relations between police officers and black communities, the answer should be “Yes”. Before accusing a police officer of being racist, it is wise to consider all the aspects that play role in his/her decision making when protecting the public.
The main purpose for police officers is public safety. Their goal is to predict, prevent, and stop crimes in order to ensure and restore peace in the communities. Diversity of communities lead to distinctive crimes, severity levels of crimes, and recidivism rates discrepancies. Criminals and law-breakers exist within any race, gender, sex, or socio-economic status. Jumping to a conclusion that one race is targeted more than the other without conducting a research and walking in a police officers’ shoes is incorrect and unfair. Numerous pieces of the event must …show more content…
If a crime occurred and the officer has enough information to arrest the suspect, none of the factors such as race contradicts the facts. Liberal criminologist Michael Tonry wrote: “Racial differences in patterns of offending, not racial bias by police and other officials, are the principal reason that such greater proportions of blacks than whites are arrested, prosecuted, convicted and imprisoned” (MacDonald). The fact that members of one race commit more crimes, thus they are more likely to be arrested due to this fact, does not necessarily mean that they are being intentionally arrested by supposed racist police officers due to their
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