The term “micro-aggression” was first used by Chester Pierce, a Harvard University professor as well as a psychiatrist describing what he had witnessed over time as dismissal and insults that were leveled against the African Americans by non-black Americans ( Torino, Rivera, Capodilupo, & Nadal, 2018) . The term has been widely applied to make reference to the commonplace daily behavioral and verbal as well as environmental indignities that may be used intentionally or unintentionally to present derogatory, hostile, or harmful prejudices towards a given group of people. Micro-aggression has been employed primarily with the objective of causing degradation towards groups that are socially marginalized, which may include the disabled, the LGBT community, and the population living in poverty.
Derald Wing, another psychologist, has come up with a definition of micro-aggression as the brief exchanges that take place every day usually used to send messages that are denigrating to a given section of the population generally due to their group associations ( Torino et al., 2018) . According to Wing, individuals using these daily brief exchanges may use them without an awareness of the impact that such exchanges may have. The use of micro-aggressions is considered discriminatory or covert racism since they take place regularly. Usually, the stigmatized or socially marginalized groups, who are generally on the receiving end, find micro-aggression as more stressful because the perpetrators who are usually the dominant group denies the existence of such behavior ( Levchak, 2018). Consequently, the socially marginalized groups are often treated as lesser beings with minimal equality in comparison to other groups.
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Police ethics
Ethics have been described as the accepted moral principles upon which the activity, conduct, or behavior of individuals is hinged. Law enforcement officers are charged with a challenging as well as admirable job offering critical services to the members of the community in which they serve and protect ( Andresen & Hodgkinson, 2018) . Policing work often puts police officers at risk thus may call for the use of force once in a while. Subsequently, police officers have a responsibility of operating within high standards of accountability as well as professionalism. Members of the community ought to be able to travel confidently, work, and live comfortably expecting that their interaction with the law enforcement officers will be founded on public safety, constitutional norms, and fairness devoid of discrimination or bias.
The police, as law enforcement officers have a distinct code of conduct which forms the foundation upon which such officers undertake their daily duties. First, it should be noted that police officers are expected to serve the community as their fundamental duty safeguarding property and lives of the community members where they operate. Furthermore, police officers have a duty to protect the weak as well as the innocent from oppression while ensuring that the peaceful are not disrupted through disorder or violence ( Robertiello, 2017) . As such, it is in the law enforcers place to ensure that the rights granted to the population in accordance with the constitution are protected by securing justice, equality, and liberty for all.
Micro-aggression and the effect it has on police ethics
Despite the well spelt out duties of the police officers and the expected code of conduct that governs the police as law enforcers, there are numerous instances where these ethical foundations are overstepped with the police engaging in micro-aggressions. When these moral foundations are violated, law enforcers engage in the use of force towards offenders making the communities diminish their confidence in the police officers and often view the police in distrust. The use of force by police officers on offenders as well as suspects has been an object of virulent debate often culminating in sensational cases that allege police brutality and misconduct ( Robertiello, 2017) . Most notably, there have been stark disparities in the treatment of offenders, especially those from groups that have been met with micro-aggressions such as stereotyping.
Defining force employed on offenders
Many descriptions have been used to describe the use of force with necessary and unnecessary force being fronted to indicate force used by police officers. Police officers may employ empty-hand control techniques which denotes joint locks, holds, and grabs in addition to punches and kicks. Additionally, other forceful approaches include the use of blunt objects, chemical and peppers spray as well as high-voltage devices that immobilize individuals. These techniques may be employed in different occasions, usually depending on the judgment of the police officers, which may not always be right.
Stereotyping of the African Americans
Arguably, young black men have been stereotyped as dangerous and violent criminals which clouds the decisions of police officers regarding who ought to be arrested as well as whether to use force and how much force ought to be used. Subsequently, police officers’ decisions are often being clouded by unconscious bias. It should be noted that within the urban criminal justice system, the virtue of being a young male of African descent is seen as a “probable cause” to justify the forceful arrest, detention, and questioning of these young African American males ( Andresen & Hodgkinson, 2018) . The rise of intense human rights activism has provided a voice through which the disproportionate use of force by law enforcers towards young black male offenders. It is interesting to note that offenders who have been arrested within what is regarded as "white neighborhoods" are faced with more force.
In support of this conclusion, studies have pointed out that the rate of arrests for African Americans in Dearborn Michigan is significantly high even though Whites, as well as Arabs, primarily inhabit Dearborn. Studies further support the argument that there has been a plummeting use of force on offenders arrested within this community who are primarily residents of Detroit who are passing through going to their workplaces or shopping ( Bruce & Hawkins, 2018) . Even though there is need to acknowledge that crime potentially increases with increasing poverty, there is no justification regarding the “black-on-black” crime to justify the employment of excessive force to institute any form of reform.
There has been further proof according to civil rights lawsuits which have piled up within this community alleging use of racial epithets in addition to excessive force on the offenders who are usually arrested for minor as well as major offences ( Andresen & Hodgkinson, 2018) .
In Allen Park, an episode has been recorded of an African American man, Ernest Griglen, living with disability and diabetes who was arrested by Allen Park and Dearborn police officers with unwarranted force ( Bruce & Hawkins, 2018) . Ernest is said to have climbed from his car after what doctors concluded was a diabetes episode, but a police officer had found that Ernest was upset which prompted him to climb off his car in the middle of the road. The Dearborn police officers argued that they were apprehensive that Ernest was carrying a gun thus “guiding him to the ground” and forcefully handcuffing him. Closer investigation proved that what the officers were thinking was a gun was, in fact, an insulin pump.
Eyewitnesses who gave an account of the episode indicated that the police officers started kicking, hitting, and beating up Ernest while they had thrown him to the ground. Ernest’s wife recounts seeing her husband in torn clothes and dirty with a knot on his forehead. In prove that force was used on Ernest, the medical examiner noted that his death was caused by bleeding in his brain which resulted from a “blunt force head trauma”. It would be true to argue that Ernest had violated traffic rules but his being African American led to the suspicion of intentionally breaking the law and the assumption of him carrying a gun ( Bruce & Hawkins, 2018) . Such micro-aggressions clouded the law enforcers judgment prompting uncalled for the use of force which would probably have been different had Ernest been from another racial grouping.
While the law enforcement officers have an ethical obligation of ensuring that justice in addition to the anti-discrimination laws enacted in the 1960s, the anti-discrimination jurisprudence has barely addressed the micro-aggressions that minorities often experience ( Levchak, 2018) . There has been a tendency to interpret civil law inclining on the assumption that discrimination is not cognitive but somewhat motivational. Subsequently, minority offenders are often subjected to treatment that is less favorable and different in comparison to offenders from the majority groups.
Micro-aggression has the potential of creating a mental picture of “typical” members of given categories. It should be observed that individuals in a population are viewed as undifferentiated without significant differences among them. Often, a particular behavior that is exhibited by one group member is observed it is associated with the entire group making the observers to draw conclusions that the observed individual is representative of the entire group and the behavior that such an individual has exhibited is empirically confirmed about the entire group. Studies have pointed out that micro-aggressions consisting of stereotypes are made of sets of associations that are well-learned during the early stages of life and can be persistent even in the wake of information contradicting what has been learned ( Bruce & Hawkins, 2018) . Further studies affirm that a large number of police officers are white native-born citizens who have had exposure to the messages of stereotyping, bias, and micro-aggressions making such messages form part of the police officers' fabricated perception on race. As such, this explanation would explain why the Allen police officers thought that Ernest as an African American would be in possession of a gun and had the potential of turning violent thus making them use excessive force in subduing and arresting the offender.
Micro-aggression on a religious basis
Studies have indicated that there is a general belief that is held concluding that people of different religions have something abnormal or wrong culminating into behavior that yields maltreatment, judgment, or punishment. The case of American Muslims can be used to effectively show how micro-aggressions have affected police ethics resulting in force being employed on offenders. Following the 9/11 attack in the US, offenders identified as Muslim are often faced with uncalled for incidents of degradation, harassment, and excessive force while handling which is often not seen when the law enforcement officers are treating Christian offenders. Moreover, while the government has instituted measures to fight the war on terrorism, Muslims committing petty offences have met with a militarized approach ( Robertiello, 2017) . It should be noted that such conduct that is perpetrated by the police officers contradicts their ethical practice standards and drives a dangerous wedge between the communities served and the law enforcement officers.
Micro-aggression towards Latinos
The war on crime has opened another front upon which micro-aggression has been unleashed with police ethics being compromised and excessive force being applied on offenders. It should be noted that SWAT teams that are heavily armed have proliferated small neighborhoods in the quest to recover trace amounts of drugs. Studies are indicating that during these SWAT no-knock operations, excess force is employed on offenders with family members also walking away with injuries and in some cases, they are killed ( Robertiello, 2017) . Often, despite having offenders from among the Whites, the Latinos and African Americans constitute drug trafficking offenders. Often, these offenders are not only met with force during the process of arrest but also during their time in jails.
A court case in which Latino men who were lawfully permanent citizens of the US were raided in early morning hours is indicative of the role that micro-aggression plays in affecting police ethics. In this case, the immigration officers conducted these raids with neither legal justifications nor court warrants pounding on the doors while demanding entry. Upon forceful entry, the officers have been indicated to have swept through the houses terrorizing children and pulling off bed covers. It is observed that the raid followed a pattern upon which was prevalent in New York where heavily armed immigration officers would forcefully raid homes belonging to Latinos interrogating them about their immigration status ( Robertiello, 2017) . An observation can be made that the unethical conduct of these officers, even though they purported to have been seeking specific targets, is hinged on micro-aggression. Subsequently, lawful permanent residents become bear the brunt of unethical conduct by law enforcement officers who are blinded by micro-aggression.
The contribution of immigration criminalization over the past few years has increased the tendency for micro-aggression directed towards immigrants, whether legal or illegal. The phenomena can be sued to explain the harassment and denigration. As the Arizona SB 1070 provides, the law enforcement officers have the authority to stop and check documents for members of the population who is suspected of being undocumented, in other words, any member of the community who looks Latino ( Andresen & Hodgkinson, 2018) . Should, these members of the population be found with minor offenses such as loitering in travel as well as public space which are often policed aggressively, they are met with similar aggression with the police officers seeking to “keep the place clean”. As such, the Latinos who have immigrated to the US legally often find themselves living as aliens in their own land while experiencing explicit racial derogation when they are caught up in offenses.
Remedying micro-aggression and use of force on offenders
Finding a remedy for micro-aggression and the effect that such conduct has on police ethics requires a multipronged approach. It is worth mentioning that the relationship that exists between police officers and the community which they serve is hinged on the conduct of these officers during their policing activities. Subsequently, there is a need to create positive relationships between the police and the general population in efforts to boost mutual trust and bring down the levels of micro-aggression that is met on minority groups ( Andresen & Hodgkinson, 2018) . Even though there has been a developing renewed commitment to resolve the trust issues existing between law enforcers and the general public, there is more to be done. For example, New York's stop and frisk program is still viewed advancing micro-aggression with the police officers in the state being said to target individuals on a racial basis even when those being stopped and frisked have not committed any offenses. Such policies have a significant impact on the ethical foundations of law enforcement.
Furthermore, there is a need to put in place stringent measures that prevent micro-aggression during the law enforcement process. First, putting in place such measures would require an accurate way of data collection on the use of force by police officers on offenders and establish a policy framework upon which legal action can be taken to officers found using excess force on minority groups. Studies indicate that there lacks an effective and standardized way of reporting on micro-aggressive actions taken by law enforcers ( Andresen & Hodgkinson, 2018) . Therefore, there should be efforts made towards putting in place standardized reporting procedures to bride the data gap on excessive use of force, discrimination, and unjustified practices such as micro-aggressions that are met on minority groups by law enforcement officers ( Campbell & Manning, 2018) . Members of the public ought to be sensitized to report instances of police officers’ micro-aggressions towards minority groups. Enhancing micro-aggression data collection will be important in decreasing existing distrust between police officers and communities while improving public safety.
Communities faced with micro-aggressions have a responsibility to rally for increased transparency as well as accountability from the law enforcement officers ( Hess, Orthmann, & Cho, 2016) . Additionally, these communities have a duty to provide accurate information regarding the practices advanced by police officers in efforts to clamp down the biases and boost the relationships between police officers and communities. Additionally, there arises the need to put in place strict disciplinary actions on officers who are found culpable of advancing micro-aggressive behavior and using force on offenders ( Andresen & Hodgkinson, 2018) . A pertinent issue in curbing micro-aggression and force met on offenders is to train law enforcement officers on the sensitivity of such actions and provide alternatives to using force. It is worth noting that strategies that create distance, time, and space between officers and offenders thus reducing the likelihood of employing force ought to form part of the tactical training that is provided to law enforcement officers.
Lastly, the investigations, as well as persecution of police officers who have been accused of using force on offenders and advancing micro-aggression, should be made public and as independent as possible ( Hess et al., 2016) . In order to ensure the independence of the process, officers involved in the investigation process should not have an existing relationship with the police department.
References
Andresen, M. A., & Hodgkinson, T. K. (2018). Evaluating the impact of police foot patrol at the micro-geographic level. Policing: An International Journal , 41 (3), 314-324. doi:10.1108/pijpsm-01-2018-0012
Bruce, M. A., & Hawkins, D. F. (2018). Inequality, Crime, and Health among African American Males . West Yorkshire, England: Emerald Group Publishing.
Campbell, B., & Manning, J. (2018). The Rise of Victimhood Culture: Microaggressions, Safe Spaces, and the New Culture Wars . Basingstoke, England: Springer.
Hess, K. M., Orthmann, C. H., & Cho, H. L. (2016). Introduction to Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice . Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
Levchak, C. C., (2018). Microaggressions and Modern Racism: Endurance and Evolution . Basingstoke, England: Springer.
Robertiello, G., (2017). The Use and Abuse of Police Power in America: Historical Milestones and Current Controversies . Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO.
Torino, G. C., Rivera, D. P., Capodilupo, C. M., & Nadal, K. L. (2018). Microaggression Theory: Influence and Implications . Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
