England has had trouble with equality in the policing of laws, especially in London. Although many say it failed, London police instituted a mandatory anti-racism training for its officers (Webbe). A famous comedian, George Carlin, once said that there are two attributes that should be required for a police officer; intelligence and decency. Hiring someone onto the police force that needs anti-racism training may not be a wise decision especially if the police force is already experiencing race related issues. Even hiring police officers that are minorities doesn’t seem to help relive this problem. In Hyattsville, Maryland two African American officers were targeted by their own department after they spoke up about brutality and discrimination against minorities that they had witnessed (Constant). Even police that try to make a difference in the relationship between minorities and police can be put at…
1. Will women ever be viewed as equal in the position of a Law Enforcement Officer?…
Throughout the policing history of women and minorities they have struggled to be seen as equal in the law enforcement. Women have been forced to deal with discrimination within ranking and even overlooked for promotions that they were well qualified for.…
This literature review analyzes the problem of underrepresentation of women in top executive positions in law enforcement in the state of Georgia. The study will provide an analysis of the gaps, trends and various occurring problems both in the past and currently regarding how African American Women have been underrepresented in law enforcement agencies. History of the Black women in these job positions will be addressed providing a comparison with their white women and men in general occupying these positions. Historical perspective will trace back these issues from the period of 1900. Also discussed is how diversity at the work place has affected AAW and their performance. Specific concern will be placed on how race and gender have been a hindering factor to their performance. A major issue that affects law enforcement agencies has been the glass ceiling and how over time has been used to hinder AAW at work place. The paper deeply analyzes challenges and various barriers that face women from obtaining promotions of executive positions in law enforcement.…
In the past, women took a back seat and were viewed at a lesser status than man, but the role of women and minorities has changed over the years with regards to the selection process, how high they can rank, and which areas they would normally patrol. Women and minorities are now able to be promoted as highly as Chief of Police, without regard to their gender or race, but rather to tenure and performance. Additionally, women and minorities are now treated with more fairness within their respective forces, compared to how women used…
One of the major problems that police deal with is bias-based policing. Bias-based policing is best described as practices that police intentionally use based on ethnicity, gender, religion, age, and sexual orientation. It also includes racial profiling (p.31). In my opinion, this problem will always be around, because there will always be at least one bad police officer. In order for us to minimize this problem, police officers should interact with the people in the community more. If the police made relationships with people of all races, it would make it easier for the community to trust law…
In any field where your job is to provide a service to the public, it is important to have a basic understanding of the people you serve. The same is true for those who work in law enforcement, but because of the nature of their duties, it is an issue for serious concern. The multicultural shift in America means that there is more representation of various minority groups, all of whom have differing historic relations with those in law enforcement, and often times an unfavorable one. Whether these groups are newly represented in American society or have been part of the society for generations, most often there is a history of unfair or unequal treatment under the law that is difficult for parties on both sides of the issue to overcome. This lies at the core of the problems with police-community relations (PCR). In order to serve the public to the best of their abilities, those who 've taken the oath to do so need involvement from the community they represent, a community that seems to be ever…
Among police occupations, gender disparity has existed for centuries even though progress has been shown throughout past decades. Valiant efforts from women on all accounts have proven progress towards the goal. The fight and battle from women exemplify an end to gender disparity among police officers as statistics show headway into the equalization of the work force. From the beginning of the first sworn woman officer to 13% population of women among the force show progress through history. Media plays a massive role in the perception of women in the force due their representation. Changing attitudes of the male counterparts have been proven to help incorporate women into the field. In all, gender disparity exists through all work forces…
As the political landscape and social conditions of American society have changed, so have the personnel policies and practices of local law enforcement and the racial and gender makeup. American law enforcement remains a male dominated field, but it is recognized that more women are wanted and needed. Statistically, a woman is more likely to be employed as a CEO then a police officer. In 1845, the first women to be hired by the New York City Police Department were called “matrons.” In 1985, Penny Harrington of the Portland Oregon Police Department became the first female Chief of Police. In 2004 women accounted for only 12.7 percent of all sworn law enforcement positions in large agencies and the numbers are declining. The percentage of sworn female officers in smaller agencies is even lower. There are many possible reasons for the decline in the number of women in law enforcement. Research shows that woman can be just as effective as men; uneven hiring practices; selection processes and recruitment policies keep the number of woman artificially low. Often women are screened out early as a result of certain entry level tests that favor upper body strength or previous life experiences. Most women never even consider a career in law enforcement to begin with, due to their misunderstanding of the nature of the job and the aggressive and authoritarian images portrayed in the media. Once hired women still face discrimination, sexual harassment or even peer intimidation and they often lack the necessary role models or mentors to help them move up the ranks. The under-representation of women at all levels in the modern police agency negatively impacts the culture and operational efficiency of law enforcement agencies throughout the country. Rookies, because they are the new recruits and are the less experienced offices they tend to be given the grunt jobs until they have proven themselves at least. They must prove…
Throughout the history of the United States, the ranks of police officers have been dominated by white males. As a result, the underrepresentation of minorities and women has long been a problem in policing. Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1972 Equal Employment Opportunity Act made discriminating against any individual based upon their color, sex, religion or national origin illegal, thus paving the way for more minorities and women to become police officers. Before the implementation and enforcement of these acts, it was extremely difficult for minorities and women to get a job in policing. Experts in the field of law enforcement maintain that diversity in…
The New York Police Department has had discrimination in the workplace for many years. Many of the most qualified detectives, are not given to opportunity to get promoted because of race. Many of the detective’s white colleagues who joined later in time were given a promotion before the minority police members could. The main reason for this is discrimination. Another way the detectives were discriminated against is that all the detective were put into the same division. All of the qualified detectives were put into the same division even though many of the detectives were more qualified than the other detectives (Mueller, Southall, Dwyer & Beachy 2017).…
Throughout history the role of women and racial and ethnic minorities has been restrained. This causes the inability to move up in ranking and limiting the ability to perform in certain jobs. Being a woman or having a different racial background can also cause stereotypes. For example, a Hispanic officer may be given a Hispanic area to patrol, due to his background. The need for minorities and women in law enforcement is undoubtedly true. The culture, and gender diversity in police departments is not only helpful in today’s police departments, but it is a necessity. The larger police departments such as Detroit City police could not be a successful department without ethnic minorities, and women. One example of the need for women in the department would be that on a routine stop if there were a female that is suspected of a crime, or suspected to be in the possession of drugs she needs to be searched. A long time ago a male officer would simply search the woman, and arrest her if need be, or send her on her way. With all of the sexual harassment accusations against male police officers during the frisking it is easier on the department, as well as the women being frisked just to have a female officer do the task to avoid accusations, or even the loss of a case. Cities in the United states especially the large cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Miami, or Detroit is extremely ethnically diverse. This is where ethnic police officers are needed. If there was a call that police officers responded to there is a possibility that the person who is being interviewed at the scene would only want to talk with an ethnic police officer this will not only calm down the person being interviewed, but it will be a more effective interview. These are just a few examples of why…
This paper will analyze the disparate treatment of women in policing by exploring the attitudes and obstacles that women face in law enforcement, and by discussing why women are important to the changing role of police work. When law enforcement agencies represent the communities they serve it benefits the law enforcement profession and society as whole.…
Women have worked within our law enforcement system for over one hundred and seventy years. This paper examines the history and current status of women in policing and the challenges they have faced. History of women in policing will be presented from the first instances of women being hired as law enforcement to their current status. Research information indicates that, despite high levels of sexual harassment and discrimination, women police officers perform as well as their male peers although their numbers are small within their departments.…
Diversity in law enforcement has grown to become a hot topic within the law enforcement community. The demographic of society has changed dramatically over the last 20 years and with that law enforcement has been changing, but have they been changing enough? Different law enforcement agencies have their own ways of implementing diversity in their practices and procedures, some of them are better than others, but with issues that happen today it is important that they do something.…