Police Responsiveness

In this article, Richard J. Lundman and Robert L. Kaufman explore the racial discrimination that white officers possess when interacting with individuals of color. The authors present a study, arguing that African-Americans and other individuals of color are more likely to be stopped and pulled over by law enforcement in comparison to their white counterparts. Furthermore, the authors use statistical data and personal accounts from those individuals involved in police encounters to examine how police force harass individuals of color with little to any legitimate reason. Through surveys from individuals of color and logistic research, the author attempts to discover whether or not “Driving While Black” is a myth or an actual phenomenon. From the results discovered, the author concluded that police nationally make traffic stops more frequently of African-American male drivers and that African-American males and Hispanic individuals are less likely to report that law enforcement act justly during the traffic stop encounters. The author’s argument relates to my analytical essay entitled NWA: Disregard Tha Po-lice!, as it demonstrates the racialized motives that many police officers possess when interacting with individuals of color. In my essay, I argue that Anna Deavere Smith’s Twilight: Los Angeles 1992 critiques America’s aggressive and racially-motivated police force. This scholarly article provides statistical data, illustrating how the police force is more likely to stop a person of color in comparison to a white individual. In addition, the evidence found within this research exemplifies how many of these officers had little to any legitimate reason for stopping these individuals of color. These two pieces of literature relatively coincide as the display
Kaufman. "Driving While Black: Effects Of Race, Ethnicity, And Gender On Citizen Self-Reports Of Traffic Stops And Police Actions*." Criminology 41.1 (2003): 195-220.