Failure of the police to recognize cultural diversity is cited as an antecedent officer misbehavior or unsubstantiated claims of misconduct. Such misconduct extends to detention of suspects prior to trial, with racial minorities likely to be victims compared to White-Americans. McNamara and Burns (2009) argued that racial bias in detention prior to trial has strong roots in the history of the US policing system developed in the South. Slave patrols and black codes were policing measures adopted by the Southern authorities to segregate Americans racially. Despite the passage of the Civil Rights Act 1866, the Southern police departments had their work cut out – protection of the white population from the perceived violent and dangerous slaves and freed slaves (McNamara & Burns, 2009). Therefore, the high likelihood of racial minorities to be detained prior to trial compared to White-Americans is a stark reminder, and blatant practice of racism, a problem that has historically dogged American policing and justice systems.
Populations of racial minorities dominate American prisons. One can argue that the situation is an outcome of the high percentage of racial minorities detained prior to trial, hence increasing the likelihood of prosecution and incarceration. In a study examining racial differences in sentencing, Steffensmeier and Demuth (2000) generated findings consistent with theoretical hypotheses that ethnicity has small to moderate influence on sentencing outcomes. Hispanic and black offenders were more likely to receive harsh punishments compared to whites. Rachlinski et al. (2008) posited that the situation might be an outcome of unconscious racial bias among judges. Race matters in the justice corridors and racial minorities are the recipients of implicit bias that exists among trial judges.
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Racial bias among trial judges is a cause for concern, but it is the conduct of the police who subject high numbers of racial minorities to situations that lead to such outcomes that should be questioned. Judges can only pass judgment on cases presented before them. It is evident that the police are trapped in a time warp where racial discrimination in policing was a norm. According to Spohn (2008), the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 was instrumental in the development of Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which sought to ensure reasonable uniformity in sentencing by narrowing the wide disparity in sentences imposed on similar criminal offences by different offenders. A similar approach is needed in police reforms to eliminate the culture of perception of racial minorities as lesser humans, hence undeserving of equal treatment from the justice system. Based on ideologies presented in McNamara and Burns (2009), it is evident the police are need of serious reforms, which in history, were defined during the reform era and the community era. The first advocated for elimination of unequal treatment in the American Justice system and was marked by civil rights movements; while the second marked the increased engagement of the community in policing.
Maintenance of the current modus operandi through failure to institute required reforms exposed the American Justice System to litigations on abuse of the rights of racial minorities. Mallett et al. (2012) observed that court detention centers in the US have a significant proportion of juvenile offenders, However, concerns emerge from the disproportionate impact such detention has on racial minorities, with African Americans and Hispanics more likely to be detained than White-Americans. Relevant stakeholders are at pains to explain this occurrence, with explanations varying, but centering on differential offending to selection bias. The later may be perpetrated by the police and law enforces and can be addressed through long overdue reforms on equal dispensation of justice. However, the former presents different challenges because of the cultural differences and complexity in community settings. It is in public knowledge that racial minorities are perceived as more likely to be offenders. The police are likely to be drawn into the debate, hence end up detaining suspected offenders from minority groups for petty offences or simply to exert their authority based on racial prejudice. Either way, the increased likelihood of such offenders being detained prior to trial is in violation of their rights, and is likely to see activism from human rights activists and anti-racism groups to ensure conformity to civil rights and equality by the police.
References
Mallett, C. A., Fukushima, M., Stoddard-Dare, P., & Quinn, L. M. (2012). Significant race differences in factors related to the detention recidivism of youthful offenders. Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice , 10 (1), 24-40.
McNamara, R. H., & Burns, R. G. (2009). Multiculturalism in the criminal justice system. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Rachlinski, J. J., Johnson, S. L., Wistrich, A. J., & Guthrie, C. (2008). Does unconscious racial bias affect trial judges. Notre Dame L. Rev. , 84 , 1195.
Spohn, C. (2008). Race, sex, and pretrial detention in federal court: Indirect effects and cumulative disadvantage. U. Kan. L. Rev. , 57 , 879.
Steffensmeier, D., & Demuth, S. (2000). Ethnicity and sentencing outcomes in US federal courts: Who is punished more harshly? American sociological review , 705-729.
