The stereotype has the potential of creating a greater misconception of how individuals are and how they often live in other states, culture, and religion and their influence in the law enforcement (Shusta et al., 2002). In the year 2014, there were reports of increased rates of police killings directed at the people of color (Najdowski, Bottoms & Goff, 2015). Studies have established that race was primary undercurrents within the discourse since there was contention over the impact of the racial bias against the people of color in these shootings. In addition to this, chasm also erupted between the civilians and the police officers as the majority of citizens questioned whether these institutions are protecting or persecuting them (Rudovsky, 2001). Stereotyping within the law enforcement has the most adverse effect on the minorities and the people of color; therefore, it is important that the 21st generation officers understand consequences of stereotyping and ways to avoid them completely.
Impact of stereotyping on law enforcement in the community
Arguably, there are increased inequalities within the entire criminal justice system. According to Shusta et al., (2002), as a result of the massive level of stereotyping and disparities in both the arrest and prosecution, today, there are more numbers of the African-American and Latino males in jail compared to the rest of the racial groups. In addition to this, research has established that as the minorities, they are massively more likely to be killed by an officer on duty. According to Najdowski, Bottoms & Goff, (2015), stereotyping and the buildup of unconscious bias drives the arrests, shooting deaths in addition to the incarceration of blacks and Latinos. Implicit bias, for instance, illustrates a concept of automatic associations that an individual makes between groups and stereotypes concerning similar groups-stereotypes that the targeted group can easily internalize. Neurology, social and cognitive psychology researchers have established that people often hold implicit biases even in a situation of absence of heartfelt bigotry by taking in media’s message (Shusta et al., 2002).
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Stereotype threat often causes an enforcement officer to misclassify majority of the innocent people of color than whites as suspects (Najdowski, 2014). Further, studies have established that the majority of the black men were more concerned that a hypothetical officer might stereotype them as a criminal based on their race. Such an instance often pushes them to anticipate that the police would monitor their behaviour and at the same time look for proof that might be used to stereotype them. In most occasions, the Blacks would be highly self-conscious and be concerned of how they act or what the officers might be thinking of them (Najdowski, Bottoms & Goff, 2015). There are higher chances that the blacks would anticipate to quickly freeze up, appear nervous or even avoid making eye contacts during any encounter with a police officer. Arguably, the actions of officers are unethical towards people of color and have failed to serve the primary function of law enforcement where they seem to serve the whites while ignoring the blacks. It follows that when an individual imagines that the concept of racism is about to end, jailing and policing system in the country have continued to focus their prejudice and discrimination perceptions towards the minority (Shusta et al., 2002).
The majority of the research carried in this field has shown that stereotype threats often results to injustices among the innocent people of color. Individuals who appear to be concerned about being stereotyped as a criminal often have distorted values concerning ways to react in a particular circumstance. Often, they develop a feeling of being under the control of the officer and believe that they are less likely to claim their overall freedom in the event of a police encounter (Najdowski, 2014). Further, the innocent blacks particularly those who perceive that they are treated as suspect often are forced to react with the significant level of defensiveness, hostility or even antagonism. Such an instance explains the reasons officers consider people of color as having some pessimistic character and has consequences since they are more probable to be detained when having a pessimistic than optimistic behavior. Within the entire law enforcement system, black people are more likely to experience higher levels of stereotype threat before the decision makers like the parole boards, judges and even juries (Shusta et al., 2002).
Within the context of the relationship between a community comprising of people of color and the police officers, studies have shown that it is highly unsurprising that the blacks often feel the danger of being stereotyped as criminals (Rudovsky, 2001). Additionally, concerns about bias and physical safety seem to be firmly entangled on the officers’ excessive use of force towards the vulnerable black citizens. It might also be critical to analyze levels of which stereotype contributes to massive racial disproportionalities in an illegal arrest; conviction and even to searches (Najdowski, Bottoms & Goff, 2015). Therefore, it can be said that blocked opportunities might significantly contribute to massive racial disparities in economic and social achievement.
Trends in law enforcement in addressing stereotyping in law enforcement
In the development of strategies aimed at eliminating miscarriages within law enforcement, there is the need to understand the reasons stereotyping occurs. Research on a racially disparate psychological experience of the criminal justice encounter is one of the most productive ways towards achieving such a goal (Rudovsky, 2001). Arguably, training and education on the normal psychological processes can produce forms of behaviors which are typically related to criminality. The efforts aimed at diversifying the police officers and strengthen the relationship between the community and police have helped to increase overall expectations that officers would be just and fair. They can also be critical to attenuate the experiences of black people related to stereotype threat in officer's encounter (Shusta et al., 2002). Some approaches to end stereotyping have proven successful in eliminating it while others have not but in general, the country continues to experiences higher rates of stereotyping within law enforcement. The following are the typical strategies that have been adopted and implemented over the years to address this problem (Najdowski, Bottoms & Goff, 2015).
Diversification of the police forces- it is clear that both deep and surface level diversity seem to have a critical workplace impact where the officers have been diversified regarding demography and values. Those police departments that have been able to achieve an egalitarian environment and racial and gender diversification seem to have successfully implemented efforts of community policing (Najdowski, 2014). The majority of the male officers are more likely to use excessive force against racial minorities compared to their female colleagues. Therefore, there have been increased cases of physical aggressiveness in their interactions with the cross-raced males that have continued to be a problem. Studies have established that predominantly White and male demographics in addition to the ideology of the current force might significantly hinder overall efforts towards community policing.
Diversity Training- There has been a comprehensive diversity education and training directed at every police officer with an aimed to end both implicit and explicit racial bias. It is clear that with the adoption of diversity training, the level of stereotyping has significantly dropped since it is associated with a stable and immediate impact on an individual’s learning outcome. According to Najdowski, Bottoms & Goff, (2015), there is always the need to integrate diversity training with other diversity efforts directed at enhancing self-awareness of the effects of stereotyping in addition to the promotion of skills of resolving a conflict. In a general term, implicit bias awareness is specifically focused on its consequences in addition to the adoption of various strategies to end it (Shusta et al., 2002). Typical examples of skill-enhancing approaches are: counter stereotypical imaging, increased intergroup contact individuation, perspective-taking and giving and stereotype replacement.
Leadership buy-in- this is another suitable approach used in an attempt to control stereotyping. Police officers often hold onto certain prevalent ideologies that might be highly permeable to a lesser bias under the correct form of management and leadership. Therefore, it follows that rank-and-file police culture’s nature might be highly beneficial for transformation if the kind of leadership is genuinely dedicated to diversifying both shifting and occupation of core values and practices (Najdowski, 2014). Studies have shown that such an approach will greatly underscore the overall significance of the top management support for efforts of diversification and provides hope that the system might have the important instrument to bring about a positive change.
Recommended improvements
Ethics and integrity are critical for the entire law enforcement. In a more general view, police ethics is seen as a code of values that significantly affects conduct, decision making and behavior of the police officers. It is imperative for the police officers to understand the importance of ethical conduct to ensure that they do what is right for the majority of the citizens irrespective of their class or race. Integrity is a set of beliefs which will contribute to the overall effectiveness of the officers’ operation based on the personal and professional ethics. Integrity has been shown to be a critical aspect of a policeman since it entails honor, honesty, dedication to mission and morality. Further, integrity is precisely mirrored in the formal code of ethics (Najdowski, Bottoms & Goff, 2015).
Raising awareness of the implicit bias among police leaders and officers more on bias might also prove effective. It is clear that there is no correct set of policies that is sufficient enough to end implicit bias within the law enforcement. Therefore, there is the need for change to start off with a broad understanding of the inherent bias in addition to how the enforcement officers recognize it. Evidently, introducing the notion of implicit bias by regular training will mostly allow for discussions of how the human brain develops and process the stereotypical actions (Rudovsky, 2001). Awareness training must target police leaders who often do not believe that implicit bias is one of the major issues and often do not understand what often happen between the community and the law enforcement officers particularly with reduced rates of crime as an evidence of a working relationship.
Transforming the conversation between police and the community is also an effective strategy. The moment law enforcement creates a diversified staff through employing from the community that they tend to serve; it might send a clear a message of equality to the community (Shusta et al., 2002). Research has shown that community policing might also play a critical role. The approach will encourage police officers to build a strong relationship with the community members. Arguably, this might be considered as a two-way traffic because it will reduce bias that the local community members might be holding against the officers and any bias that the police might be holding against the community residents (Najdowski, Bottoms & Goff, 2015).
Putting policies in place to limit the impact of bias should also be adopted. The law enforcement department can also create policies that would effectively help to restrict the level of bias impact. Several states have already established policies in place that asserts that race can never be a factor in the decision to stop a car or even in making the arrest (Rudovsky, 2001). The policy should make it clear that ethnicity or even race of a person should never be used as a sole factor when it comes to the determination of the existence of probable cause to either arrest or even place in custody any individual. The policy has to extend to discipline where it must also clearly distinguish between the implicit and explicit bias (Shusta et al., 2002).
The paper has focused on the concept of stereotyping within law enforcement. Further, it has analyzed various mechanisms of social psychological that underlie the racial bias and unique aspects of police work. It has also been shown that individual tend to hold certain subconscious beliefs that the youths from the black communities are viewed as adult-like, while on the other hand the black male adults are considered as sub-human, super-human and a criminal. It is evident that the negative racial bias significantly influences how the black civilians are always treated. Further, the black males are likely targeted or even perceive as a criminal suspect than a white male. In addition to this, the law enforcement tends to view the males from the people of color as less innocent and highly threatening than the white males. It is clear that racial bias and policing has considerably played a vital role regarding perpetuating brutality and excessive use of force among the people of color and the police officer encounter. These problems could be eliminated with proper training and education aimed at bringing about equality within the justice system.
References
Najdowski, C. J. (2014). Interactions between African Americans and police officers: How cultural stereotypes create a wrongful conviction pipeline for African Americans. Examining wrongful convictions: Stepping back, moving forward , 55-70.
Najdowski, C. J., Bottoms, B. L., & Goff, P. A. (2015). Stereotype threat and racial differences in citizens’ experiences of police encounters. Law and human behavior , 39 (5), 463.
Rudovsky, D. (2001). Law enforcement by stereotypes and serendipity: Racial profiling and stops and searches without cause. U. Pa. J. Const. L. , 3 , 296.
Shusta, R. M., Levine, D. R., Harris, P. R., & Wong, H. Z. (2002). Multicultural law enforcement: Strategies for peacekeeping in a diverse society . Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
