Low-income areas are subject to police misconduct. According to research done by the NYCLU, people in low-income neighborhoods are unfairly arrested and imprisoned by the justice system (Nyclu, 2018). New York City is no different. Over 4000 police misconduct complaints, from New York city, were submitted to the Civilian Complaint Review Board in 2017 (Nyc.gov, 2017). That figure is assumed to be higher because some people do not report the cases while others such as low-income earners who cannot afford quality lawyer representation in the court of law choose not to pursue with the cases. The city, which is home to approximately 2.5 million black people, is one of the most affected cities in the country by racial profiling. Black people in New York city have a higher chance of experiencing police misconduct than other people living in the city. This, however, is reflected in statistics which show that most people who experience police brutality in New York City are people of color. This article will focus on police misconducts such as brutality and racial profiling in New York City.
Police brutality is a form of police misconduct whereby police officers use unnecessary excessive force when performing their duties. Police brutality in New York City, which dates back to the 18th century, has been prevalent in the last decade. Likewise, cases filed against police officers from the NYPD have steadily risen over the years. According to a report filed by the New York Daily News in 2017, 1.7 million residents from New York City were living below the poverty line. Over half of that figure was made of minority communities such as the Black community and Hispanic community (Nytimes, 2018). In low-income areas, criminal activities are widespread. It makes it one of the most affected cities in the United States by crime. As a result, police in these areas are vigilant when executing their duties. This, in turn, has led to record high numbers of reported cases of police brutality in the city. Disturbing stories narrated by victims and eyewitnesses, mobile phone recordings, and even body-cam recordings of police officers have shown police officers in New York city using excessive force on people when it is utterly unnecessary (Kane & White, 2012, p. 17). This, however, as many people and organization have dubbed it, is an attack on poor people. As a result, it has led to mistrust and fear of the police in New York city especially among minority communities who are more affected by police brutality in New York City.
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Racial profiling is the process by which police officers target or suspect individuals of wrongdoing based on the individual's race or ethnicity. Racial profiling by police officers in New York city is widespread. Minority communities such as the black community, experience racial profiling more than any other community living in New York City. According to a report tabled by the New York Times, minority communities, especially black people, are more likely to be stopped by police in the city for questioning which may also lead to arrest (Baker, 2010). Stop-and-frisk, a police policy in the area, is likely to be experienced by people of color in the city than any other inhabitants. In research done in 2018, by the New York Civil Liberties Union, 68% of individuals who were stopped and frisked by police officers from the NYPD were innocent (Nyclu, 2018). What was even more alarming from the research is that 58% of all individuals stopped were black. Racial profiling has led to countless unfair arrested and imprisonment of black people living in New York City. In some cases, however, racial profiling has proved to be fatal. For example, in 2014, Akai Gurley, a former black resident of New York city was fatally shot and killed by an officer of the NYPD who was later charged and convicted on manslaughter. The shooting was considered to be a case of both police brutality and racial profiling.
In conclusion, police misconduct in New York City is and will continue being an issue in New York city if something serious is not done. Misconducts by police on minority communities in the area who are mostly comprised of low-income earners is a major issue. Police brutality has been going on in the last century which goes on to prove that something needs to be done by the justice system. Racial profiling, especially on minority communities in the area has also been prevalent. Although the government and organization have placed policies and laws to regulate police misconduct, it is evident that more needs to be done to control this uncouth and unethical behavior by police officers in New York City.
References
Baker, A. (2010, May 12). New York Minorities Frisked 9 Times as Often, Data Find. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/13/nyregion/13frisk.html
Kane, R. J., & White, M. D. (2012). Jammed Up: Bad Cops, Police Misconduct, and the New York City Police Department . New York, NY: NYU Press.
Nyc.gov. (2017). Civilian Complaint Review Board. Retrieved from http://www.nyc.gov/ccrb
Nyclu. (2018, December 10). Stop-and-Frisk Data. Retrieved from https://www.nyclu.org/en/stop-and-frisk-data
Nytimes. (2018, October 19). Poverty Rate Is Up in New York City, and Income Gap Is Wide, Census Data Show. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/19/nyregion/poverty-rate-in-city-rises-to-21-2.html
