Cheryl Cooper
March 24, 2014
University of Phoenix
Ethnicity and the Police
There are many views of how the criminal justice treats different ethnic groups. Some say that police are fair and they are just doing their jobs. Some people believe that it is the fault of the suspects that cause the use of force scenarios. There is a possibility of this, but then I question if this was true why these incidents are only happening to ethnic groups. Why are so many minorities being pulled over for stop and frisk situations, being killed, and overrepresentations in prisons? Not just young black males but men and women of different races. I grew up respecting the uniform, but over the course of time I can no longer respect the uniform. I can only respect the individuals in the uniform which show respect to another person. The respectful uniform who has shown their worth in a community. I am sure the news media sensationalizes incidents of corruption and brutality from the police department. But then if there weren’t many incidents to comment on there wouldn’t be so many stories. Unfortunately, racism continues in this day of age and it is everywhere in our society, including the criminal justice system.
Public Opinion of police by different ethnic groups
Race affects positive and negative biases towards police. Some believe that, race is a variable that has less and less explanatory power as the U.S. becomes an increasingly multi-ethnic society. The perceptions of the police are; their effectiveness, misconduct, and about crime reporting. There are contradictory attitudes about police behavior. Some think that the police were effective in addressing local crime concerns. But, they also believed that the police were guilty of engaging in misconduct. Individuals who have been stopped by the police within the past year were more likely to believe that the police engaged in misconduct and were less willing
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